Secret
by Rita Arabella Black
Summary: Charlie returns for another season of Quidditch and he discovers a secret someone’s been keeping that may change his life forever. Rated M for strong sexual content.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: In my little world, Charlie Weasley lives in America, plays professional Quidditch for the Flying American Red Dragons and during the off season, he works at the only North American Dragon Preserve. Charlie returns for another season of Quidditch and he discovers a secret someone's been keeping that may change his life forever. Rated M for strong sexual content.**

_Based on characters created by J. K. Rowling_

Chapter One

Charlie Weasley only had a month and a half left before reporting to Red Dragons training camp. He had had a truncated season with the dragon preserve due to the expansion of the Quidditch season. The Reds had made the playoffs and the USA Quidditch League designated an all-star game right after the season ended. With the popularity of Quidditch growing at a surprising rate, the USA Quidditch League decided the timing for an All-Stars Game was perfect.

The Reds' head coach Dmitri Popov and Sweetwater's head coach Boris Sminenski were chosen as the all-star coaches. Five of the Reds' players were chosen for the team, including Jordan and Joanna Kingsley, Charlie and the two beaters, Lee West and Jason Monroe. The game was played in Nebraska and Popov's team, which included all of the Reds' players, along with Fritz Hoelshider (Arizona) and Joel Roberson (New Jersey). The game proved to be one of the most exciting games in American wizarding history. And in the end, Charlie Weasley captured the Golden Snitch after 7 hours of play just before a tornado rolled across the plains. League officials held the storm at bay for two hours, but an area not far from Ogallala, was being devastated by the storm. Most of the wizarding community of Ogallala was attending the game, but those not able to attend told the League in no uncertain terms to cease and desist holding the storm back.

The weather was bad enough with the storm abated, Charlie had to fight high winds, hail, and lightning. The other seeker, Joe Hoerner (Salem Cats) was blown off his broom and spent most of the game hanging on for dear life. If the Golden Snitch hadn't literally blown into Charlie's chest, he doubted seriously if it would ever have been found.

Charlie only had one day to report to the preserve, so he paid a surprise visit to his girlfriend, Jessica, a muggle who lived in Las Cruces, NM, not too far from the preserve. Jessica Johansen was a beautiful statuesque blond artist. She was a free thinker and although she knew all about Charlie's "special talents" as she called them, she had no desire to enter the wizarding world. During one of Charlie's weaker moments, he's actually thought about marrying her, but she told him that she liked their relationship just the way it was. Charlie had other sexual relationship, but he always came back to her.

Jessica was just as glad to see him as she always was. She dropped everything she was doing and flew into his arms. Their sex was always hot and so intense that Charlie thought she was going to instantaneously combust in his arms. They at least made it into her bedroom before they were tearing at each other's clothes. She pulled him down on top of her kissing him frantically. She moaned and shuttered as his lips followed his hands down her body. He wanted to spend more time loving her with his hands and tongue, but she impatiently pulled his face to hers and she wrapped her legs around him, inviting him deep inside her.

Her breathing was in short gasps as she pressed her pelvis harder into him. His climax was hard and powerful; she shuttered again and kept repeating, "No," breathlessly. "Not yet." Then, "Please, Charlie," she begged, saying his name, as she tensed, holding on to him for dear life. When she was finally spent, she was breathing hard and her body was covered in sweat.

"Oh dear, God," she said finally, pushing her hair out of her eyes. "That was incredible." He kissed her soundly as she lay limp in his arms. "Wow," was all he could say.

It was much, much later, after Charlie woke up from his nap that he found the bed empty. He got dressed and went into the living room. Jessica was sitting at the breakfast bar drinking a beer. She was sketching in her art book. Charlie bent over and kissed her neck and she smiled contentedly.

"How long was I out?" he asked, taking a drink of her beer. He looked at the pencil sketches of himself and chuckled.

"About an hour. You were exhausted." She said. She started to close the sketch pad, but he took it away from her.

"Still going to do the romance novel cover you keep talking about?" he asked still standing over her.

"Yep," she said. "I hate it when you look at my work." She said, taking it back and then closing the book.

"Why? Thousands of people look at your art on a daily basis," he pointed out.

She hugged the book into her chest. "I know. But these are private. Oh, speaking of, I have a show in Dallas next month."

"Congratulations," Charlie said, moving to the refrigerator. He removed two beers and walked back to the bar. He handed her a beer. "How long? Maybe I can actually see one of your shows. That would be okay wouldn't it? I mean as a paying customer."

"Of course." She said. "I'd still be nervous having you see my stuff. The exhibition's going to last three months."

"Are you going to be there the whole time?" He asked.

She nodded. "The gallery is putting a bunch of us up in a fancy hotel where we can intermingle with the patrons. That way, according to my agent, we get more sales. Honestly, I don't see the point of hanging around the whole time, but the gallery owners want the artists there to talk up their work during the showings.

"I'm taking thirty pieces; there's a sculpture of you," she said. She grinned. "It's a nude. It's a set of three; one's a painting that shows off all your back, er, tattoos and a photograph I took when you were asleep. The photograph is black and white and very erotic. It focuses on your dragon tattoo, the tribal tattoo and your black heart. I hand painted your tattoos and the sheet over the lower half of your torso was smoothed down to shows off your muscles and your, em good parts. I almost didn't get it finished, you looked so good."

"You didn't paint the wizard tattoos, did you?" Charlie asked.

Jessica stopped drinking her beer. "Well, yeah. They're beautiful. You're beautiful. Nobody's going to know what they are. I mean, I know you and I still don't know what they all are. I didn't think you'd mind." She said simply.

"I don't know how I feel until I see them, I guess." He said.

"Oh dear." She stood up and pushed his legs apart with her body and snuggled into him. "They were shipped off a week ago. Now you really have to go and see them. Promise me you'll come." She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him, rubbing her body into his.

"I'll try. Sure. Oh yes, baby," he said as her tongue traced his jaw line down his throat to his Adam's apple. She gave him a little kiss and he grabbed a handful of hair tightly and kissed her. They didn't make it to the bedroom this time.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: All though this story is a "stand alone", I refer a lot to previous Charlie Weasley stories that I've written. I sincerely hope it's not confusing. Thanks, Rita**

_Based on characters created by J. K. Rowling_

Chapter 2

Charlie woke up before dawn and while Jessica was still asleep he showered quickly then made coffee for himself. He didn't want to leave before saying good-bye to her because he had no idea when he'd see her again, but she looked so peaceful that he didn't want to wake her. He was standing over her, deciding what to do when she opened her eyes and smiled.

"Hey," he whispered. "I have to go."

She yawned and nodded. "I know. Come to Dallas for my show, okay?"

He nodded then leaned over and kissed her gently. "I'll try," he said. "I don't know when I can come back. I leave for training camp soon, and I won't have any free time."

Jessica touched his face. "I know. Be careful, okay? And really, really try to come to Dallas. Promise?" Her voice was low and sexy and pouty. She ran her hands down his chest. "Please."

Charlie laughed. "Okay. I promise. I'll come to Dallas sometime and see your work. I don't want to see 'me' though. The thought embarrasses me."

"But you're so hot. I'll bet it sells the first day."

"Good, then I won't have to look at it." He said.

"The sold pieces aren't taken down until the end of the show, Mr. Smarty."

"How much are you asking for it because maybe I'll buy it and give it to my mum."

Jessica laughed. "Charlie, they're nudes. I don't think that's something your mother would want in her living room."

"Oh, no, I wouldn't give them to Mum; it might give her a heart attack or something. Nudes, huh?" He was actually picturing what his mother's reaction would be. No, it wouldn't be pretty.

"I described them to you, remember?" she asked.

"Well, yeah, but I don't think no clothes was mentioned. You said the photograph had me covered, didn't you?"

"Yes, but artistically covered. You'll see."

Charlie stood up. He had a worried look on his face. She laughed again. "Don't worry. They are beautiful. Just like my model." She pulled him down to her and kissed him. "Go! You're going to be late. It'll be daylight soon. I'll see you in Dallas." She pushed him away playfully. "Oh, and I'm so glad you came." She threw off her covers and hurried into the bathroom.

Charlie took the opportunity to disapparate in her bedroom instead of stepping outside. As much as he disliked disapparating inside a building, it did create less attention. He apparated outside his living quarters that he shared with his friend and co-worker, Jack. It was still early and the only activity seemed to be going on in the dining hall. He decided he'd check in and get his schedule after he had some breakfast and more coffee. The dragon preserve served a pretty good buffet style breakfast. When he walked inside he noticed that there were groups of wizards that were probably tourists sitting around the room. He only saw two wranglers; his friends Pete and Mike who were probably on the day shift. Charlie grabbed a cup of coffee and joined his friends. They greeted him warmly and most of the tourists looked up and recognized him. The room was buzzing by the time he sat down.

"Hey, stranger," Mike said. "Welcome back. I didn't think you were coming back this time. Congratulations on the all-star game. Real smooth move the way you captured the Golden Snitch."

Charlie laughed. "The wind blew it right into my chest and the poor bugger got stuck in my shirt. Damn, the wind was bad." He took a drink of coffee. "So, what's new?" He asked looking around the room. The wizards were still looking at him, but were at least trying not to be so overt. He nodded at a couple of them.

Pete looked disgusted. "The front office hired an "information officer" and now we're crawling with tourists. We don't get to spend much time with the dragons; we're too busy protecting these assholes. I'm hoping a siren'll snatch a couple of 'em and then they'll shut this son of a bitch down." Mike just drank his coffee and nodded in agreement.

"Who are you on with today?" Mike asked.

Charlie shrugged. "I haven't checked in yet. Have you seen Ricardo or Jack?"

Mike shook his head. "I just got here myself."

"How's Lindsey and the kids?" Charlie asked. Mike was married to a muggle woman, who also happened to be Jessica's cousin. Mike and Lindsey had two children, both who'd were already showing signs of magic.

"Lindsey's about to go crazy with Mikey. Trudy was never like this when she was Mikey's age. I think Lindsey's about ready to kill me or leave me." He smiled. "I'm sure Mikey will calm down soon. Hope so anyway. I might have to get some assistance."

"Let me know and I'll send Minnie over to help you. She just doesn't have enough to do around my house since I'm gone so much." Minnie was the free elf who began working for Charlie after he moved into his new home in Austin.

Mike shook his head. "I appreciate the offer. I'll talk to Lindsey about it, but she's kind of down on anything magical these days."

"Minnie loves kids," Charlie said. "She'd be good for you."

Mike promised to talk to Lindsey, but he was doubtful that Lindsey would appreciate what a deal having a house elf meant.

The room was beginning to fill with a smattering of employees and more early-riser tourists. Several witches from the front office saw Charlie and made a bee-line to his table.

"Hello, ladies," Charlie said graciously.

The witches giggled and sat down next to him. He smiled at the four women and made room for them. Several minutes later, a very sleepy looking Jack dragged himself to the table.

"Hi Charlie!" Jack said, perking up. "Great game the other night."

Charlie smiled. "Thanks."

"Weren't you made MVP?" He asked.

Charlie blushed. "Jordan and I." he corrected. "I just got lucky."

One of the ladies giggled. "I wouldn't mind being blown into your chest."

Charlie laughed. "That little sucker stung," he said, rubbing the spot where the Golden Snitch had collided with his chest. The girls laughed again.

"That'll probably be the last time they hold a game in Nebraska during tornado season," he said.

As the crowd around Charlie increased—tourists were edging up toward his table, the noise level decreased until only Charlie's table and the other wranglers were engaged in conversation. The tourists were discreetly taking pictures of him and finally one brave soul asked him to pose. Charlie understood that he was probably the most recognizable person in Texas, and probably the whole of America. He was an ambassador for the sport of Quidditch and was as accommodating as he could possibly be. He posed for pictures and signed autographs until ten minutes before the start of his shift, when he politely excused himself to talk to Daniel Schleif, the director of the preserve.

"Good to see you again, Charlie," Daniel said as Charlie sat down.

"It's nice to be back. Unfortunately I'm not going to be here very long. I have to report to training camp shortly."

"Yes," Daniel began. "That's what I wanted to talk to you about. You're only going to be here another month and I was wondering if you'd consider just working in the evenings as a tour guide."

"Oh Daniel," Charlie said. "I really don't like the tourist part of the preserve. I'd rather not."

"I'm sorry, Charlie, but that's about the only place we need you. The wrangler shifts are already scheduled through the end of next month. If anyone has an emergency, you can work for them, but I'm afraid I need you elsewhere."

Charlie wasn't happy with the assignment, but he needed to be around his dragons, and he was sure if he agreed to be tour guide this year, he'd have priority next season. Reluctantly Charlie agreed.

"Who'll I be working with?"

"Some new people. We've hired our first female tour guide. She's been here all season. Worked at the dragon preserve in South America for two years. Her name is Kelly Bradford. She also works with interns, Molly Ringling and Winslow Clarke. You'll like them." Daniel looked out the paneled glass that overlooked a good portion of the main compound.

"They're about to pick up a 3 day tour group now. Here's Kelly now." Daniel pointed her out. Kelly looked up and Daniel motioned her to come into his office.

Kelly was exactly what Charlie expected in a tour guide. All show. She was beautiful and she chose to wear the shorter, more modern costume which consisted of a tailored to fit pair of shorts and safari style shirt. Not only was she beautiful, but she had that wholesome quality about her as well.

Daniel introduced the two and Charlie followed her to the lobby where she was to pick up the group of seven tourists. The crowd collectively gasped in surprise when they saw Charlie Weasley, the Quidditch player, following Kelly.

Kelly did all the talking and Charlie stood back looking like he was engrossed in every word. The truth was, his mind was wandering. He thought about the fact that he didn't eat breakfast and was full of caffeine. He thought about how sexy Jessica looked this morning and regretted not making love with her before he left. A couple of the women in the group were really hot. He thought about the upcoming training camp and seeing his friends and team mates again; and how he really, really hated doing the tours at the preserve.

The campers grabbed their gear and headed for the protected camping area. The interns were waiting for them when they arrived. Charlie stood back and let everyone else do the work. He would help when asked. There were a lot of things to do to set up the area and Molly; the intern showed them safety precautions. She was talking about the giant spiders and how to avoid their webs, when a timid hand shot up.

"How big do the spiders get?" the young witch asked nervously.

Automatically Charlie sighed heavily. "If you see anything 24 inches please leave it alone; its mother will be looking for it. They are surprisingly maternal for arachnids."

The campers reacted the same way they always did. They either thought Charlie was kidding or they were horrified. He didn't know what the brochures were telling people these days about the dangers of the magical creatures. _What the fuck, _he thought. _We'll rescue the poor bastards. That's what we do. That's all we do._

At one time, Charlie pledged not to carry on with any of the tourists because of the distraction, but he was so disillusioned with the whole process, he thought he might as well give it a shot; it would be a diversion, a pleasant one. The campers had several hours to set up their tents and prepare for the first walking tour of the day. They were given a disillusioning charm that made them almost invisible to the dragons and other magical creatures in the desert. The spell worked very well, but it wasn't perfect. It lulled many of them in a false sense of security.

Once the campers began the first tour, Charlie positioned himself next to the pretty witches. They were flattered when he paid attention to him. He pointed out some magical plants that the pixies like to eat to enhance their libidos. The pixies, he told them, only came out when it rained and played on the slick asphalt of the highways. They were responsible for many accidents on rainy nights. The women found the idea of pixies as fascinating. One of the girls asked Charlie if the plant worked on humans.

He grinned. "I don't know. You want to try it?" The women giggled. "Sure," one of the women, whose name was April said.

Charlie was flirty with them the rest of the afternoon. He convinced them that the plant wouldn't do them any harm, but they wouldn't have the desired result either.

Kelly wasn't amused at the attention he paid the young ladies. At dinner that evening she took him aside and told him she didn't appreciate him flirting with all the women.

"Jealous?" he asked in a low voice.

Kelly got red-faced and stammered. "No," she said. "Of course not. Your actions are unprofessional."

Charlie leaned in close to her ear. She shuttered slightly when she felt his warm breath on her cheek. Her eyelids fluttered and her pulse raced. "Fuck you," he whispered. "And not in the good way."


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: This has an M rating for a reason. Warning for strong sexual content.**

_Based on characters created by J. K. Rowling_

Chapter 3

Kelly looked at Charlie. Her face burned at her reaction to his being so close. He was taunting her. She recovered quickly.

"Don't flatter yourself," she said. "I'm just pointing out that you are being totally unprofessional by hitting on those women."

Charlie grinned. "Come on, lighten up, it's all part of the bull shit we feed them. It's a fantasy isn't it?"

He saw some of his friends and called them over to sit with him and the tourist. Jack sat with him, but Pete gave the table a disgusted look and sat with some of the other wrangler who were just sitting down.

"You busy this weekend?" Jack asked. "Boo and I are going to Mexico to party. Want to come?"

"Absolutely, unless the dickheads here make me work."

Jack looked at Charlie. "Did you just call the bosses 'dickheads'?"

Kelly was turning purple. She looked over to the group of campers who didn't seem to be paying attention to their conversation. She hissed, "Shh, someone will hear you."

Charlie looked at her coldly. "Fuck 'em."

Jack grinned and Charlie just shrugged. "This is not what I signed up for. I haven't even seen a dragon yet. I'm the fucking star of the show, they drag me out so the bosses can make more gold. I'm getting a little tired of it. The preserve used to be the one place I could go where nobody bothered me; where everyone treated me like family. Fuck this shit. I need to spend a night outside so I can hear the dragons' songs."

"Amen to that, brother," Jack said. "I heard that the bosses push the touristy thing only when you're here. The serious studies are done during Quidditch season."

"I think I'm going to look into going to South America or Canada. I could go back to Romania, I guess. Dragomir would love to have me back." He nodded thoughtfully. "I'm going to have to do some thinking about this." Charlie magicked his half-eaten tray into the kitchen and stood up. The campers looked at him expectantly. He smiled at them.

"I'm going over to the dispensary. Any of you want to join me?"

Kelly started to give him a look, but he quelled it sharply. She put on a fake smile and said nothing. The two witches that he had flirted with all day jumped at the chance. The others looked between Charlie and Kelly, deciding that it wasn't part of the scheduled tour, but what the hell.

"They haven't finished eating yet," Kelly said. "Why don't we wait until everyone's done and we can all go?"

Charlie smiled pleasantly. "You can bring them round later. Excuse me. Ladies?"

He slapped Jack on the shoulder and started walking toward the area designated as the dispensary/nursery. The two witches and one other man followed.

Charlie greeted his friend Padmai, who was in charge of the care of magical creatures with a warm smile. Padmai looked up and nervously gave him a wave.

"Charlie!" she said enthusiastically. "Dora told me you were back! I have very exciting news. Come here!" She practically pulled him into the quarantine room. The three tourists started to follow, but she stopped them. "Sorry, staff only," she said curtly.

Charlie looked inside the incubator-looking device that was sitting on the floor in a corner. "What the fuck? How? Where did this come from? It looks kind of like a cross between a Chinese Red and a Welshie. Charlie was staring at a dragon he had never seen before. "What is it?" He asked in wonder. "She's beautiful." Charlie was in awe.

Padmai shook her head. "Incredible, isn't it? One of the wranglers, Steven found it wandering about the Mexican mountains this morning. It's a Peruvian Earth Dragon. How she got this far north, I have no idea. Wings are badly damaged. No fire. Thank goodness, or we'd never get this close. She's under a sleep spell to recover." She looked at Charlie. "I thought this would make you happy."

"You have no idea," Charlie said, blinking away tears. He looked at the dragon like a mother looks at her newborn. His eyes were soft and he felt that familiar tug in his heart. "Poor thing. Has Jack seen this?"

Padmai shook her head. "The boss hasn't even seen it yet, although we're not sure we're going to tell Daniel right away. We're afraid he'll find a way to exploit it. God, I hate that man. I cannot believe Jonas lets him get away with the shit he does." Padmai reddened and looked at Charlie. "Sorry, I get carried away."

"I feel the same way. I'm ready to tell them to shove this job up his arse. I hate what this place has become. I thought Jonas retired and is off in China somewhere studying."

"No and that's the story! Daniel made it sound that way, but actually Jonas is just on sabbatical. The last words were, 'Daniel's in charge. Do what he says. I'll be back.' I don't think this is what he envisioned. But the preserve is making a lot of gold." Padmai shrugged.

"Yeah, but at what price?" he wondered. The dragon moved slightly, a stream of smoke coming out of its nostrils and Padmai and Charlie returned their attention to the dragon. He squatted down and touched the scales and moved his hands over its body. He examined the damaged wings and winced when he felt the broken bones. "Poor thing," he soothed. "How much does she weigh?'

"About 750 kilograms. She's an adolescent. No eggs, dammit."

The door to the quarantine room swung open and in walked Kelly. "Charlie, how could you leave those people out there without any supervision?"

"Oops," he said. "Sorry about that. I forgot all about them. See what we have."

Kelly walked over to the incubator and looked in. "Yeah? A dragon, that's unusual for this place isn't it?"

"I thought you'd be interested in this one." Charlie said.

Kelly looked at him blankly. "So? Why's it special?"

Charlie and Padmai looked at each other. "It's a Peruvian Earth Dragon."

Her expression didn't change. "And?"

"She's not indigenous to North America." Padmai said.

"Oh! Right! That! Sure I knew that. Well, I've seen so many of them when I worked in the Andes, it didn't seem unusual to see one here." Kelly quickly recovered.

"Does she look all right to you?" Charlie asked.

"Uh, yeah. She looks fine to me."

"Really?" Charlie said. "Isn't the color off? Shouldn't it be green instead of the reddish brown?"

"Well, yeah, I didn't see the color in this light. Of course." She shrugged.

Charlie and Padmai looked at each other again. Padmai rolled her eyes. Charlie stood up and dusted off his hands. "Right. Well, let's go. We don't want to keep the tourists waiting." Charlie grinned at Padmai. "Thanks, Padmai. May I come back tonight?" He winked .

She nodded, holding a clip board close to her chest. "Please do," she said.

Charlie followed Kelly out of the quarantine room. He had a rather pleased look on his face. He had no idea what to make of the revelation that Kelly maybe wasn't who she said she was, but he was certain it was something he could use later on.

The tourists were waiting at the nursery for them. They were looking at the dragon eggs and the newly hatched. Charlie was in a much better mood having seen the Peruvian Earth Dragon and learning that Kelly was hiding something. "Aren't they incredible? He said rhetorically? We harvest about 10 eggs a season and incubate them here. First time egg layers are not very maternal at first and the eggs are easily destroyed by the males or the clumsy females. Once the eggs hatched, we keep them here for about six weeks until the babies are able to fend for themselves. After the eggs are hatched, the moms become very maternal."

"What do the babies eat?" One of the women asked.

"They're fed a combination blood and protein, mostly buffalo. They also eat cactus." He said.

"How do they feed them?" the same woman asked.

Charlie grinned. "Very carefully. The babies have already eaten, but maybe tomorrow you can watch."

Kelly didn't contribute anything to the conversation. She hadn't been with the preserve very long and she was learning her way around. Charlie gave her the benefit of the doubt this time.

"Any more questions?" he asked.

The group looked around and shook their heads. "This is a very important part of the preserve. There is also a whole division that's responsible for research. It is a wonderful operation around here.

"I think we probably should go back to the campsite. I'm glad you got to see this part of the preserve."

He led the group back to the campsite and found his tent. He was expected to sleep with the tourists as part of the show. He figured that the intern would be sharing the tent with him, but he knew that wasn't going to happen.

It was dark before the group had completed the second hike to a nest of American Reds and returned to camp. Kelly had everyone sit around the campfire on the faux rocks—soft like chairs, with the illusion of being in the wild. Kelly gave them more information about the preserve and the types of magical creatures. The interns, Molly and Winslow did their part by presenting a show on the history of the preserve and the three indigenous dragons found on the preserve.

Charlie told them about having seen the elusive winged horses on two occasions. Neither Molly, Winslow or Kelly had seen the mysterious herd. He explained they were only seen at sun set and they were a sight to see.

They went to bed around 10:30. The women stayed together in a single tent magicked to accommodate the five women plus Molly and Kelly. The two men were paired with Winslow. Kelly didn't argue with Charlie when he said he had no intention of sleeping in the same tent with Winslow or the tourists (_Nothing personal_). It was a small concession.

Charlie made one pass around the perimeter to make sure the protection was in place and then he settled into his tent. He stayed up for about an hour and read the play book the team sent him to study before going to training camp. It was also an overview of the other teams in the USA Quidditch League and information about each team member. In less than an hour after he extinguished the lamp, he heard a rustling outside his tent. The flap opened noiselessly. He automatically grabbed his wand, but just held on to it. He could see from the silhouette that the figure entering his tent was a female. He decided not to say anything; but just watch. He was on guard but he got the feeling his life wasn't in danger at that point.

The figure walked silently toward his cot. He heard the sound of clothes being removed and she crawled into the bed. She carefully removed the blanket that was covering him. She gasped when she discovered that he was nude. She began to massage him until he became hard. Charlie stayed still with difficulty but moaned when she wrapped her lips around him. At the point he didn't think he could take any more, he pulled her up and she straddled him. She cried out when he entered her, riding him wildly until he exploded inside her. She collapsed on him, breathing in small gasps. Once their breathing and heart rates returned to normal, she got up quickly and dressed. She was out of the tent and disappeared before Charlie had the energy to get up.

He sat up and looked around the tent. He knew there was no point in trying to follow her; she would be gone. Charlie had no idea who had just left his tent. He raked his fingers through his hair and lay back down and went to sleep. He'd figure it out in the morning.


	4. Chapter 4

_Based on characters created by J. K. Rowling_

Chapter 4

Charlie was sitting in a bar in Mexico with his closest friends, drinking heavily; each bitching about the problems with the Preserve. They had been in the bar for several hours and were feeling no pain.

"You know that I never talk about my sex life, but the weirdest thing happened to me a couple of nights ago," Charlie said pouring himself another glass of his favorite liquor, mescal. "A woman came into my tent, gave me a blow job and we ended up fucking our brains out. It was very dark; I had _no_ idea who she was. I still don't know."

"Damn, man," his friend Ricardo said, "It couldn't have been that dark, unless she put a hex on the room. Did you at least ask her name? Surely you had an idea who it was."

Charlie took another drink and shook his head drunkenly. "I have no idea," he said.

"Can you narrow it down?"

"She had a nice ass," he shrugged. "But the other strange part was none of the women acted differently toward me the next day. It was bizarre."

"I hope you were protected, _hermano,_" Ricardo said.

"Of course, but it was close." He shook his head. "I'm never going to do that again. That was stupid."

"_Si_, but you have a tendency to think with your _chile_," Ricardo chided.

"Well, that's true." He agreed, taking another drink.

Jack snickered. "Who do you think it was? One of the tourists?"

"I'm pretty sure it wasn't the guide, Kelly. She doesn't like me very much." Charlie poured himself another jigger of mescal. "I was hitting on two of the women pretty hard; mostly to piss off Kelly; one of them probably. I may never know."

"As long as none of them come back to you in nine months with a little red-headed bundle of joy," Pete said.

Charlie held up his glass and clinked it with Pete's. "Amen to that, amigo."

The rest of the evening was spent talking about the Peruvian Earth Dragon and speculating on how it came to be so far away from home. The wings being damaged indicated that she may have been hit by lightning or something just as bizarre. The best guess scenario was that someone had stolen the creature and was trying to bring it across Mexico into the United States and were being chased and had to dump the cargo. Each of the wizards spent a great deal or time describing how they would torture and kill the animals that would hurt a defenseless dragon.

"Another odd thing that happened this week is that Kelly didn't know a Peruvian Earth Dragon from a V_erdemalo," Charlie_ said after he described the scene in the quarantine room. "You'd think a person who'd studied South American dragons in South America would be able to recognize the most common dragon in the Andes."

The others nodded in agreement. "There's definitely something wrong," Jack said.

By the end of the evening the four of them decided that they would get together and track the person or persons who hurt the Peruvian Earth Dragon and they were personally going to hex the acting director of the dragon preserve, Daniel Schleif, turning him into a desert pixie and make him dance for all the tourists. And then, they were going to find Jonas and convince him to come back, fire Daniel and get rid of all the goddamn tourists.

Jack and Pete found female companionship for the evening and Charlie and Ricardo returned to the preserve. They visited the quarantine room and the nursery. The Peruvian Earth Dragon was still in a potion-induced sleep, but was growing stronger every day. Its wings were on the mend and representatives from the Andes Dragon Colony were sending wranglers to pick it up in a couple of weeks. Charlie hoped that he'd still be at the preserve so he could meet the other wranglers.

Charlie's stint as a tour guide ended when Mike took emergency time off and had to leave the preserve for a couple of weeks. When Charlie talked to him about it, Mike told him that he needed to take the time off to save his marriage. Lindsey refused to even consider bringing another magical anything into the house, so the idea of Minnie helping them was out of the question. Charlie figured there was more to it that what Mike was telling him, but he didn't want to push. Mike also told him that if he was smart, he would stay away from Lindsey as well. He didn't offer any other explanation, but Charlie figured it was some sort of woman hormonal thing and he was happy to take Mike's advice.

He spent the rest of his time at the preserve in the air, guarding the perimeter, counting dragons, and keeping muggles out of the preserve. He came across the tourists every once in a while; he kept it friendly, but refused to pose for pictures or sign autographs. He really didn't care if they got pissed off and vowed not to come back to the preserve (yeah!) or support his Quidditch team. He did explain the dragons' habitat, the magical creatures, and everything else associated with the preserve. He encouraged the adults to make sure their children attend wizarding schools and support levels of advanced learning. He did sign autographed copies of his and Mike's books, _Dragons in America _and _They Grow Them Big in Texas (A History of Magical Creatures in North America)_. His proceeds from the book went to his foundation on promoting wizarding schools in America.

Charlie did absolutely nothing to make Kelly warm up to him. He was distant and just as surly as she was when they spoke. The interns were nicer to him, especially Molly after he told her that Molly was his favorite girl's name. She blushed and was always flustered around him but he felt sorry for anyone who had to work with Kelly. The other intern, whose name he could never remember tried desperately hard to find a mutual connection, but Charlie basically ignored him when he asked silly questions about his Quidditch team.

He worked in shifts with Jack and Pete, although Pete stayed primarily with the research group. Daniel made sure Charlie didn't move to research; it was his way of commanding the situation. If Charlie didn't stay with the tourist side, then he would guard the perimeters, which suited him just fine. Ricardo preferred to work nights and Charlie didn't get to see much of him. He did find out that he was working on the mystery of how the Peruvian Earth Dragon made it to Mexico. Charlie knew that his friend was relentless.

He stayed friendly with the women in the front office and with Padmai in the dispensary. They wanted to throw him a "good bye and good luck with the season" going away party, but he was so disgruntled with management that he just invited his friends out to dinner to his favorite restaurant in Mexico. Everyone showed up except Lindsey, who for some reason no longer could stand the sight of him. When Charlie asked what he'd done, Mike shrugged and said he had no idea. "Time of the month, I guess," he said, sounding more than a little irritated.

Jack told him that he'd heard a rumor from Dora, in scheduling, that a witch had heard someone bragging about shagging Charlie, but he just shook his head and said he didn't give a shit anymore. As long as naked pictures didn't pop up in celebrity magazines that would embarrass his mum and teammates, he honestly didn't care.

He spent his last night at the preserve in the nursery and the quarantine room looking after the newly hatched American Reds and looking in on the Earth Dragon. One of the newborns was having difficulty and wasn't thriving. The egg had been harvested by an intern named Dustin Franco who was ultimately killed by an evil dark wizard named Ares. No one was sure if the dragon would pull through. Padmai let him sleep in a corner, and he didn't leave until she assured him that the little American Red would live.

As Charlie left, he couldn't help thinking that if things didn't improve, this might very well be the last time he saw the preserve. The thought of not working with dragons and magical creatures made him extremely depressed.

He took the "scenic" route to the Quidditch training camp, as he flew over a large portion of the preserve. He stopped at his home in Austin before reporting to the camp. Minnie, his house elf prepared him a scrumptious meal, and told him about everything new thing she'd come across. She was very careful to stay away from the neighbors, of course, but she had made friends with one of the neighbors' dogs. She asked Charlie if he would consider getting a dog and was delighted when he didn't totally dismiss the idea. Charlie reminded her that she was free to go and visit her friends in Hamilton, Ontario whenever she liked and he promised he'd be home more now that training camp was getting underway. Charlie was finally happy to be home.


	5. Chapter 5

_Based on characters created by J. K. Rowling_

Chapter 5

Training camp had not changed at since he'd left three months earlier. He shared a room this time with Bryan Smith, the second seeker on the team. Charlie knew that since Ryan hated him, he wouldn't be happy about the arrangement. It was no big deal to Charlie because he lived in Austin and would rarely have to sleep there. When he walked into the room, expecting to see Bryan he was surprised to see another man sitting on the bed reading the play book.

"Hello," the man said in a very friendly voice. "I'm Owen, Owen Hunter. I'm just in from the reserves." He held out his hand. Charlie shook his hand.

"Sure, I remember you. You're very good. So, what happened to Ryan?"

Owen shrugged. "He went to a Canadian team. I was just called up last night."

"Well congratulations, Owen. I'm glad you're here." Charlie threw his broomstick in the corner. "You're going to have a room to yourself because I live in Austin. You'll have to come round my place. My friends like to party there. You doing anything after practice Friday? We usually party all weekend. You're welcome to drop in."

Owen shook his head solemnly. "That would be awesome, Mr. Weasley."

Charlie gave him a pained look. "What are you 15? Don't call me mister. I'm Charlie."

Owen's face turned deep red. "I'm sorry. It's just I admire you so much. I'm a little in awe."

Charlie laughed and slapped him on the back. "Fuck that. We're all part of the team."

The door was pushed open and Joanna and Jordan came in carrying their daughter, Kayleigh. When Kayleigh saw Charlie, her hair turned bright red and she squirmed in her mother's arms, reaching for Charlie.

"Hi, booger," Charlie said playfully. Kayleigh jumped in his arms and wrapped her little arms around his neck.

"Hey sweetheart," Charlie said kissing Joanna on the lips. "How's my favorite girl? Jordan, you look great," he said as he embraced his friend.

"This is Owen Hunter, everyone. Owen, this is Joanna, Jordan, and their daughter, Kayleigh. Owen's the other seeker."

"No shit," said Joanna. "Did that cocksucker Ryan finally die?"

"Apparently he's in Canada." Charlie said, smiling.

"Well out-fucking-standing," Joanna said. "God, I'm glad he's gone. So, Owen, huh?" she said looking him up and down. "You're not going poison our Charlie here, are you? Because I'd hate to have to take you out." She got right in his face. "But I would, you know."

"Baby, you scaring him," Jordan said, dragging her out of Owen's face.

"Just want to make things clear," she said. Then she smiled her brilliant smile at him and gave him a big hug. "Just yanking your chain," she said. "But seriously."

Jordan laughed, then kissed her to distract her, which it did.

"I invited our boy over to the house this weekend. You guys are coming, right?"

Jordan nodded. "Wouldn't miss it."

"Bring Justine," Charlie said with a wicked grin on his face.

"No, you bastard, you are not going to seduce our nanny. I am not bringing her into your den of iniquity."

Charlie made a funny face at Joanna and Kayleigh giggled. "Funny, huh?" Charlie hung her upside down by her feet and she squealed with delight. Jordan took his daughter and her hair turned egg yolk yellow, her happy daddy color.

"Any other news?" Charlie asked. Joanna kept up with the celebrity magazines and loved the gossip. Since the three of them had been the target of a lot of the gossip, Joanna relished in reading the more salacious pieces out loud.

"We won't be able to stand to be in the same room as Jason. _Witch!! _Magazine just named him one of the sexiest beaters alive."

"No shit? That's great." Charlie said. And Joanna rolled her eyes.

Owen was standing by his bed, staring at Kayleigh. "Is she?" he started.

"The cutest baby in the world, yes," Jordan said, giving her big wet sloppy kisses as she laughed in delight.

Owen reddened. "I mean is she a--?"

Joanna looked at him coldly. "A what?" Owen reddened even more, he started stuttering.

Joanna broke into a big grin, "Just fucking with you, and yes, our daughter is a Metamorphmagus. We did a little research and found out that apparently Jordan's great-great-great grandmother was one, too. I thought maybe it was on my side of the family since I have all the weird genes, but nope, she's a high end, pureblood-blue blood." She kissed her daughter's pudgy hand. "Funny thing, she was born with red hair and the whole family was ready to come after Charlie."

Owen cleared his throat. "I thought that you and Charlie were a thing before you married Jordan."

Jordan and Charlie laughed. "Uh, hell no," said Joanna. "I'm probably the only witch Charlie hasn't fucked."

Charlie nodded. "Probably true," he admitted. "But now I have changed my ways I am no longer a satyr. I am reformed."

Joanna looked at him deadpanned. "Uh huh."

"You mock me now, but you'll soon see, I'm very serious." He said.

Jordan and Joanna looked at each other and rolled their eyes.

"Owen," Joanna said, "You're our official know it all. When's the meeting today?"

Owen looked at the schedule he'd tacked up on the cork board. "At 10 this morning."

"Good, let's go have some breakfast before the festivities begin," Joanna said. "Justine," she said into the bracelet around Kayleigh's wrist. Immediately Kayleigh's nanny popped into the room. After a bunch of kisses and hugs, Jordan and Joanna passed their daughter off to Justine. She smiled shyly at Charlie, who smiled back. Joanna put her finger up in Charlie's face. "No, no, no. No way, not going to happen, Weasley."

"Oh, fuck off, Joanna, I was just smiling at her." Charlie said, making Justine smile bigger.

"We'll see you tonight," Justine said and she disapparated with Kayleigh in her arms.

Jordan wrapped his arms around his wife and held her tight. "It's so hard leaving her," Joanna said into Jordan's chest.

"It's all right, baby, we'll be home in a few hours." He stroked her back.

Charlie smiled at the two of them. They were the sweetest couple he had ever seen. Fiercely devoted to each other and so much in love.

"_Butch up_," Charlie said.

"Fuck you," Joanna retorted.

The four of them walked the short way to the dining room where breakfast was still being served. Charlie grabbed a cup of coffee while Joanna went off to get her and Jordan's breakfast. Owen just followed behind, happy to be included in the group. Charlie grabbed a chair next to the beaters, Lee West and Jason Monroe. Jason was talking about the article in _Witch!!_ which Charlie took away from him. He looked at the cover and saw his picture, drinking with his friends in Mexico. He snorted and began looking through the magazine. There were a couple of more pictures of Charlie but they weren't too bad. Since there hadn't been any cute witches sitting on his lap, there weren't a lot of photographs. He had just been very drunk, not lecherous. Jason was on page three. It was a very sexy pose; him without a shirt holding his broom. The editors of _Witch!! _set up the studio shot.

"Nice," Charlie said. "What'd your mum say?"

Jason snatched the magazine back and put it away.

Lee laughed. "His mommy hasn't seen it yet. I think she'd have a heart attack. He's still his mommy's baby boy."

"Screw you, West, you're just jealous." Jason said defensively.

"Oh right." He picked up the magazine and turned to another page and shoved it back at him. "Read that," he said.

"Next month meet our hunky wizard of the month, Lee West of the Flying American Red Dragons," Jason read. He handed the magazine back to Lee and said, "Yeah that's the gay issue."

Charlie spit out the coffee he was drinking all over the table and laughed so hard, he couldn't breathe. Jordan beat him on the back until he caught his breath. "Jordan and I made that issue one time."

"Right, they posed us together. It was hot." Charlie and Jordan couldn't stop talking about the article. Each took turns creating a more ridiculous scenario until Jason and Lee shook their heads and told them to shut the fuck up.

During all of this, Owen came up with Joanna and stood watching these grown men act like utter fools. They looked like they were having such a good time and were genuine friends. Finally, Joanna told him to sit down that the boys were just acting their normal selves and please ignore them.

"Lee, have you and Jason met Owen Hunter? He's Ryan's replacement."

"Thank Christ for small mercies. Did Ryan die?" Lee asked, taking a piece of toast off Owen's tray. "I hope."

"No, Owen says he's in Canada somewhere." Joanna repeated.

"No shit? That certainly was hushed up. When they call you up?"

"Last night." He said.

Lee extended his hand. "Welcome to the bigs, kid. Don't try to poison our Charlie; we'll hit you upside the head with our beaters. Just kidding. But, seriously." Lee said smiling.

"They're very loyal, and Smith did try to poison me once." Charlie explained.

The team meeting began precisely at 10. Coach Popov started in on strategy for the coming season and how the team needed a lot of work. He did for a half second, smile, and praise their season and mentioned the all-star game. He didn't introduce the all-star players; he didn't feel he had to. He also introduced the new players; Owen and Bradley Campbell, keeper. The team grunted and the other second team players didn't acknowledge them. The second team had been in their shoes before.

The schedule would be rigorous. There was a new team in the league from Hawaii the _'Aumakua Magic._ The good news was that Reds would be traveling to Hawaii for the game. Everyone was extremely excited about going to Hawaii The first game was to be in Sweetwater. Charlie decided he would go to Dallas to see Jessica that weekend. He invited Joanna and Jordan and they seemed thrilled with the idea. He held off telling them about the nudes of him. They were going to be in for a real surprise.

Preseason would begin in two weeks and the first game of the season was less than a two months away. The team was excited to begin.

By Friday, Charlie and the rest needed a break and after the last practice of the day Coach unbelievably gave them the weekend off. When he got back to his house, he surprised Minnie by giving her a toy Chihuahua puppy she named Hercules. She held the puppy and cried for a full hour until Charlie told her that his friends were coming and he'd promised them dinner. She wiped away her happy tears and began fixing the enormous meal. All Charlie's friends met at his house that evening and Minnie fixed a wonderful feast.


	6. Chapter 6

_Based on characters created by J. K. Rowling_

Chapter 6

The last day of training camp was May 2nd with preseason beginning on May 3rd. The Reds were scheduled to play their chief rivals the Salem Cats in a double header in Georgetown. This was the favorite time for the fans; the teams interacted with them and the team made it a fan appreciation day. The game was exciting and long enough to keep the fans on their feet. The game wasn't even close, which thrilled the fans even more. There was no way any of the Cats' chasers could score against Jordan Kingsley. He was brilliant and always seemed to be three places at once. Jason and Lee kept the bludger away from Jordan and focused on Nathan Gladstone, the Cats' keeper. Joanna scored 80 points, which Alicia and Iris split 90.

It was a fight to the finish for the two all-star seekers, Charlie and Joseph Hoerner; both played magnificently. The Golden Snitch was elusive and frustrating. This one was definitely not a suicide snitch, as Charlie described the slow ones. The game lasted a little over three hours with Charlie managing to grab the Golden Snitch away from Joseph who was a split second away from capturing it. Joseph took it badly and in a fit of frustration kicked Charlie hard in the back, cracking a rib, but Charlie held on and won the game.

Coach Popov took him out of the second game and sent in Owen who was clearly nervous. The Cats were determined to knock Owen off his broom, but he stayed on and Jason and Lee played defense expertly; keeping the bludger away from him as much as possible. Jason and Lee kept the bludger aimed back at Nathan, but the Cats' beaters, Martin Bledsoe and Jeremy Shaw concentrated almost exclusively on the young seeker. Toward the end of the match, there still had been no score against the Reds and Joanna, Alicia and Iris were able to score 140 points between them, until Joanna was knocked off her broom by a wayward bludger. She fell and landed hard on the ground below, taking her out of the game. Jordan flew down to her during the brief time out to make sure she was all right.

He sat by her, his face a mask of worry her head in his lap. He held her in his arms and kissed her gently. Joanna smiled before she opened her eyes. "Hi baby," she said.

Jordan pushed the hair out of her eyes, and whispered, "Are you all right?"

She nodded and grabbed Jordan and pulled herself up. "Just got the wind knocked out of me." She pulled him down to her and kissed him hard. "Thanks for rescuing me." She stood up and waved to the crowd when she heard a crunch. "Oh fuck," she said, still holding on to Jordan, "I've broken my fucking leg." She cried out in pain. Jordan swept her into his arms and beat the team healers who were heading toward her back to the aid station.

After she assured him she was fine, Jordan kissed her again and went back out to the playing field.

She was on a bed next to Charlie who was enjoying the ministrations of the very attractive healer.

"How's the game going?" Charlie asked casually.

"Good," she replied.

"Your leg looks pretty bad," he said, noting that the bone was showing through her pant leg.

"Hurts like a mother fucker," she said. "How're you doing?"

Charlie shrugged. "I'll live. Good game, though, huh?"

Joanna nodded in agreement. "Shitty we can't see the rest of it."

"Right. So, how was our little Owen?" he asked as the healer had moved from him to Joanna. The healer pursed her lips and grimaced.

"This is a bad break, Joanna." She commented. "Do you want something for pain?"

"Damn Skippy!" she said automatically. "Bring on the painkillers. And Owen's very good, by the way."

It took two healers to repair the damage in Joanna's leg and she was advised to stay off her leg for at least 48 hours. They helped her and Charlie into the stands with the other players so they could watch the rest of the game.

They'd been seated for about fifteen minutes when they watched Owen take a hard dive and pull up suddenly. He had captured the Golden Snitch. Charlie was on his feet cheering wildly. Joanna started to jump up, but thought better of it. She waved her hands in the air. The Reds beat the Cats 320 – 10. Jordan was still pissed off that one quaffle had gotten through him, but Joanna pointed out later that it was just about the time she'd fallen off her broom and was plummeting to the ground. He could be forgiven for letting the other team score. Jordan laughed and agreed, but he was still pissed off.

The whole team partied at Charlie's house that weekend. Owen was so excited about the win that that was all he talked about. Charlie commented on his great playing which made him feel even better.

Minnie was ecstatic all weekend, being able to serve Charlie's guests. She magicked a small carrier and kept Hercules next to her most of the time. She loved the little puppy, which was turning out to be a wee bit magic himself. He was fiercely protective of Minnie and growled and snapped at anyone who got too near her. Minnie was devastated when Hercules tore after Charlie, biting his leg, but Charlie didn't know the pup was biting him until Minnie pointed it out. He picked up the little dog by his scruff and handed it back to Minnie.

Minnie enjoyed playing with Kayleigh when she wasn't working in the kitchen and picking up after the rather slovenly guests. Hercules was so patient with Kayleigh when she kept putting her in her daddy's pocket and giggling. After a while, Hercules began mysteriously disappearing in Jordan's pocket and reappearing in Minnie's carrier. Kayleigh thought that was the funniest thing she'd ever seen.

Ricardo, Jack, and Pete popped in later that afternoon. They had some interesting news about Daniel and Kelly that he was dying to share.

"Good news, _amigo_," Ricardo said taking a beer from Minnie. "Jonas is coming back. Daniel is shitting the proverbial brick and our little Kelly, well, turns out she padded her resume just a little bit, but you'll never guess how she got the job, even after it was discovered she didn't know squat about dragons."

"She probably blew Daniel," Charlie said casually,

Ricardo laughed. "Exactly! How'd you know?"

Charlie took a drink from his beer and shrugged. "Lucky guess. How'd you find out?"

"I'd never reveal my sources," he said with a hint of a laugh. "When confronted with a mountain of evidence, she, ahem, came clean. She kind of promised me the same action if I kept my mouth shut."

"And you, ever the gentleman, quickly acquiesced." Charlie surmised.

"A gentleman _never_ refuses a blow job." He said seriously.

Nodding, Charlie and Ricardo clinked their beer bottles in a mock toast. "Here, here," Charlie said.

"Oh shit," Ricardo said, putting down the bottle. "It could have been her that you fucked that night."

"Maybe," Charlie said, making a face. "So, when did you tell Jonas about her?"

"Almost immediately. He had no idea what was going on. I mean he approved the tourist thing, but it was never explained the way it actually works now. He thought they'd just be groups of students visiting the main building. He had no idea about the whole overnight debacle." Ricardo said.

While Ricardo and Charlie were head to head discussing everything that was going on at the Preserve, Owen walked up to them. "Excuse me, but I just noticed that you have the same tribal tattoo," he said, pointing at Charlie's bicep. Ricardo, who was a very mean looking man, looked at him crossly.

"Who the fuck are you, _hombre_?" he said menacingly.

Owen swallowed hard. Charlie clapped him on his back and laughed. "Boo, this is our newest seeker, Owen Hunter. He played a hell of a game today, he beat the Cats."

"Did Smith die?" he asked.

"No sir," Owen said. "He went to Canada."

"Fucking cold there, ain't it?" he asked.

"Yes sir," Owen said.

"So, what was your stupid question again, _niño_?"

"I was asking about your tribal tattoos. They look alike. I was just curious, sir. Sorry."

"Really? You think so?" He looked at his tattoo, then grabbed Charlie's arm. "Well, that's what we were going for," he said in a falsetto voice. "Aren't they darling?" He sighed. "My hubby," Ricardo pinched Charlie's cheek and Charlie slapped his hand away.

"Fuck off," Charlie said, laughing.

Owen had no idea what to think. He stared at the ground for a while, and then cleared his throat. "Charlie," he said. "Why does everyone ask if Ryan died? I don't understand."

Charlie just laughed, but Lee, wrapped his arm around Owen and said, "Nobody believed any team would sign him, so we assumed he'd died."

"Oh," he said, nodding.

Since Minnie came to live with Charlie, he moved the parties to the back yard. He used to sit on his front porch and watch his muggle neighbors, but Minnie was so very unusual looking that, as weird as Austin, Texas was, even she drew attention.

After the evening meal was served, people started drifting away. Jason and Lee were the first to leave, followed by Ricardo, Jack, and Pete; Owen stayed about an hour after they left and finally went back to the training camp. Jordan and Joanna were starting to leave when he reminded them about going to Dallas. He wanted to introduce his friends to Jessica. They knew all about her and were just as anxious to meet her as well.

Besides, Joanna told him, she was very anxious to see the nudes.

**A/N: In a shameless plug, check out the USA Quidditch League's website at 3w's(dot)usaql(dot)webs(dot)com(forward slash) ****and learn all about the teams and players that make up the USA Quidditch League. It's a work in progress. Hope you enjoy. --Rita**


	7. Chapter 7

_Based on characters created by J. K. Rowling_

Chapter 7

Pre-season proved to be blast. The Reds were 4-0 against the Cats, Spinners, and the Everglades. They had a week off before the first game of the season, where they traveled to Sweetwater. Once Charlie mentioned Jessica and art exhibit his friends were interested in meeting her and seeing her artwork. None of his friends, except his preserve friends had ever met her.

Charlie found the place rather easily and on Thursday evening the five of them, Charlie, Joanna and Jordon and Lee and Jason stepped into the world of muggle art. The gallery was a refurbished warehouse and it was huge. There were several hundred people roaming around viewing the various works of art. Most of the art was abstract and the art that wasn't was erotica. Lee and Jason found the erotica and were the first to find Jessica's work, and the three pieces that were Charlie. They dragged Charlie over to the pieces and he stared at them with his mouth open.

"Oh my God," was all he could say.

Jessica had etched all his tattoos in the sculpture and, although he wasn't very comfortable having people look at him naked, he thought the piece was very creative and very, very good. The detail was incredible, especially the intricate detail of the dragon on his shoulder, his tribal tattoo on his bicep, and the black heart tattoo on his chest. The tattoos on his back weren't as detailed because the second piece, the painting of his back brought out the colors of his back tattoos which complemented the sculpture. The final piece, the photograph could only be described as erotic. The sheet was pulled low and very tight across his groin and although he was covered, the sheet highlighted his sleep erection. Jessica colored his visible tattoos with water colors. The black heart and tribal tattoos were dominant. His left arm was slung over his eyes, concealing part of the massive dragon on his shoulder.

Joanna walked up to Charlie turned, looked at the photograph and dropped her wine glass, which shattered on the concrete floor. "Holy shit," was all she could say. Jordan looked at Charlie, impressed.

The patrons in the gallery were drawn to the sound of the breaking glass. There were whispers around pointing out that the model was present. Most of the women stared at the three pieces then stared at Charlie's muscular torso and their eyes automatically wandered down to his crotch. He felt very uncomfortable.

Jessica walked up from behind when she saw the crowd surrounding her work, which she called "Tattoos in 3 Mediums". As she approached the group, she announced, "This piece has sold." Charlie thought she looked especially lovely tonight. The light hit her just right and she looked like she was glowing. She didn't see him right away and when she did, something flashed across her eyes, but she quickly recovered.

"Charlie!" She said blushing. "You're here."

"I told you'd I'd come," he said. "God, you look amazing."

She looked down quickly hiding her embarrassment.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"Nothing," she said. "I've just been a little under the weather. I do not look good. I look fat. Apparently Dallas cuisine agrees with me too much."

"Definitely not fat," he said hugging her. His hands caressed her bottom. She stiffened and pulled away.

"So these are your friends?" she asked.

"Yes and my mates from the team." He introduced everyone to her.

She stuck out her hand and said, "I'm Jessica, by the way. The artist."

"I've heard so much about you," Joanna said as she shook her hand. "Your work is brilliant, especially our Charlie here." She looked at the sculpture. "Damn, he looks like a god."

Charlie gave her a very pained look.

"I told you the pieces sell the first day, and I was right," she said proudly. "The collections sold for $150,000 to a private collection."

"That's a lot of money, right?" Lee asked.

"Uh, yeah," she said ironically. "I put a high price on it because I didn't really want to sell them, but money's money, right?"

While she spoke, she casually touched Charlie, rubbing his shoulder and arm. It was as if she needed the contact, but when he put his arm around her waist, she froze. She took his hand and held it in hers.

Charlie thought she was being overly sensitive, after her comments about the weight she thought she'd gained. She had no idea that he loved the sensuous curves on a woman and that he found her even sexier.

"Who bought the collection?" Joanna asked.

Jessica shrugged. "A woman," she grinned at Charlie. "Naturally. Her name was Reba or Reva Hardwicke, I think. I should remember her name because she paid me a shitload of money. She said she was going to keep the pieces in her bedroom. She was quite taken with Charlie."

Charlie gave her another pained look. Jessica chuckled and kissed his chastely on the cheek.

"Which one's your favorite, Joanna?" she asked.

Joanna blew out a loud breath. "The collection. They complement each other perfectly. You are very talented."

Jessica smiled. "Thank you," she said modestly. Looking around the gallery, she said, "I really should walk around and meet the other patrons. Will you be here for a while?"

Charlie nodded. "If I can drag these perverts away from my naked—"

Jessica held up her hand with a smile, "Your _glorious_ naked body," she finished.

"Yeah, yeah, my **glorious** naked body," he said, shaking his head.

Jessica reached up and touched his face. "You are glorious," she said. She kissed him and moved away.

Jason and Le had already wandered away to look at the other works of art, looking especially for the female nudes. Charlie, Joanna, and Jordan watched her walk away and greet some of the other patrons.

"She's very lovely," Jordan said. "Did we make her nervous? She seemed a little jittery to me. Too many wizards in the room?"

"You noticed it, too?" Charlie asked. "She's probably nervous about the show. This is her biggest, she told me."

Joanna and Jordan nodded in agreement.

"Well, are we going to spend the night looking at my dick or can we please look at something else?"

Joanna laughed and took his and Jordan's arms. "I'll bet we can find something the two of your will like." She watched as Lee and Jason disappeared into another room. "Follow them, I need to find the loo." She let go of Charlie and kissed her husband. "See you in a bit."

Charlie and Jordan meandered through the other exhibits. Neither had been to an art exhibit before and was fascinated by the quality of work. They met another couple of artists who insisted on explaining their work in the most graphic terms possible. They thought the artists were rather full of themselves.

Joanna finally found them just as Jordan was reaching out to touch a nude female sculpture. "Hi honey," he said, quickly drawing his hand back and blushing.

"Charlie, I just saw your girlfriend in the bathroom and she was puking her guts out. I think she's really sick. She said she still wasn't feeling well and the stress of the show was getting to her. I think you should see if she's okay."

He nodded and started off in the direction Joanna pointed. When he found her, he pulled her off into a small alcove.

"Baby, are you all right?" he asked, concerned. "Joanna said you were sick."

"Yeah, I'm much better now. I'm beginning to believe I'm allergic to the water around here. I got sick the second day I was here. I cannot wait to go home."

"When?" he asked, brushing his finger against her cheek.

"Sunday night. I sold most of the pieces, so I don't have too much to pack." She said covering her hand with his.

"I'd like to buy something. I need some art for my house." He said.

"You don't have to buy anything; I'll give you whatever you want. Your sexy body made me a hell of a lot of money, and giving you something is my way of saying thank you. Did you see anything you especially liked?"

Charlie nodded. "Your self portrait in Red."

"Oh," Jessica blushed. "It's one of my favorites, too. And it's not sold. Perfect." She walked him to the painting. It was a very erotic nude oil painting of her lying on her bed; one hand on her breast and the other behind her neck in a very relaxing pose. She had a dreamy expression.

"I was thinking about you when I did this," she said. "I've had a few offers, but I've been reluctant to sell it. I knew you'd like it."

Charlie put his arm around her shoulder and kissed her hair. "You're so beautiful," he whispered.

She smiled blissfully. "Can you stay with me tonight?" she asked.

He kissed her again. "I thought you'd never ask. What time are you allowed to leave?"

Jessica looked at her watch. "We close at 10. Maybe we could all go out for coffee or something if you want to wait. It isn't too much longer. Do you think your friends would like to go out?"

Charlie nodded. "Yeah, I'd really like for you to get to know each other, especially Joanna."

"I don't think she likes me very much. She seems very protective."

"She is, but she does like you. I can tell. Joanna wears her heart on her sleeve. You'd know in a minute if she didn't like you. Believe me."

Jessica motioned to a woman that was standing around the huge desk. The woman grabbed a clipboard and went over to them. She recognized Charlie from the portraits and smiled broadly.

"Helen, I've sold #17 to this gentleman," she said in a very businesslike tone.

"Excellent choice, sir," Helen said. "Cash or credit card?"

"I'm sorry, Helen, I misspoke. I'm giving him the piece."

"But," she started.

"Take the fee out of my commissions," she finished.

"I'll pay for the painting," he said.

Jessica shook her head. "No, really. I want you to have this."

"Well, then, sir, I need your address so we can deliver it to you," Helen said.

Charlie didn't pay attention to mundane things like his address. He knew where he lived, he just didn't know the actual address. He made a face, and whispered to Jessica, "I have no idea."

"Send it to Mike's house," she said, and she gave Helen the address for Mike and Lindsey.

"I could pick it up at your place," Charlie said.

Jessica looked away. "I'm, uh, thinking about moving to an artists' colony in Arizona. I've been invited to stay there for a couple of years. I'm seriously considering it. I haven't totally made up my mind yet, but I'm leaning that way."

Charlie looked at her strangely. "You're moving to Arizona?"

"I only said maybe, I haven't decided completely. For God's sake, Charlie, let it go." She snapped, peevishly. "I said I haven't made up my mind."

Charlie looked at her and held up his hands. "Fine. Sorry." He said, backing off.

He started to walk away from her, but she grabbed his arm. "I'm sorry, baby, I'm just have a real problem deciding what to do."

"It's okay," he said more soothingly than he felt. "I'm going to try to find my friends and we'll meet you by the door." He kissed her and her lips lingered for a while. She squeezed his hand when he ended the kiss.

Once the exhibit closed, no one was interested in meeting for a cup of coffee. Jordan and Joanna were anxious to get home to their daughter, and Jason and Lee wanted to try the wizard nightclub they'd heard some friends talk about. They promised they'd get back to their rooms at the inn in Sweetwater before too late, although they did roll their eyes at Charlie when he told them not to be too late.

Charlie followed Jessica to her room and stood outside patiently as she nervously opened the door. Charlie was busy nibbling on the back of her neck and she couldn't concentrate to open the door. Once inside, Jessica kept the lights off as they tore at each other's clothes. He pitched her on the bed, her lips crushing hers, as she reached for his belt, loosening his pants and sliding them down around his ankles. He pushed his trousers the rest of the way and began concentrating on her removing her bra. His hands kneaded her small, firm breasts and she moaned. He was on top of her and she wrapped her legs around him, pulling him closer. "Now, baby," she whispered, breathlessly. "Please, I need you," she begged and she arched her back and cried out as he entered her. She was impatient, but he was in no hurry. His thrusts were hard and rhythmic but not frantic and she moaned with the pure feel of him, begging for more. She climaxed before he did and then again almost immediately after, holding him inside her as she shuttered in relief. He held her close as their breathing returned to normal. He kissed her gently and wiped away a tear that had rolled down her check and they held each other.

"What's wrong, Jessica?" he asked her kissing away her tears.

She smiled and shook her head. "Nothing," she said. "I'm just glad you're here."

Charlie knew there was something she wasn't telling him, but he let it go for now.

"Can you stay the night?" she asked hopefully.

He kissed the top of her head. "I'm sorry, but I've got a curfew and I have to get back before one. The game's Saturday and we have to get back to Georgetown. I wish I could stay longer."

"Me, too," she whispered, holding him close. She fell asleep and when she woke up a few hours later, he was gone.


	8. Chapter 8

_Based on characters created by J. K. Rowling_

Chapter 8

The season was going very well for Charlie's team. After the substantial win against Sweetwater (240-0), the next game was in Georgetown against the Florida Everglades. Everything was going well for Charlie; he'd suffered no injuries during Saturday's game, although Sweetwater's beaters kept the bludger on him while he was fighting Sweetwater seeker Rahi Patel for the Golden Snitch. The fight for the Golden Snitch was fierce, but his determination won the day. The chasers still weren't able to capture a single goal against Jordan.

Charlie flew home immediately after the game. Minnie and her little devil dog were waiting for him. He didn't understand how this one little dog could make so much noise. Usually he had such a calming effect on all creatures, but the little mutt almost peed itself every time Charlie came near him.

He woke up at his usual time of 5:30 and apparated to the practice pitch for an hour and a half of flying, but, instead of heading off to the dining room, he actually went back home to bed and slept until almost noon. The house was unusually quiet, if you didn't count the sporadic dog yapping, and he felt at peace. It was almost as good as sleeping out of doors in the desert.

Minnie was an excellent house elf. She was happy with her 'Master Charlie Weasley' and probably would have given up her life if Charlie had asked her to. Whenever she visited the Kingsley household in Hamilton, Ontario, to visit her friends, she constantly bragged on how wonderful he was. She hummed all the time when cleaning and cooking and the only time she wasn't humming she was playing with Hercules, who actually believed she was his mother.

Charlie lazed around the afternoon and actually got to go out on his front porch for a while. He sat, drinking beer, waving and talking to his neighbors. Most of them wondered where he went during long stretches of time, but never had the nerve to ask him. The house full of college students rotated often, so Charlie didn't recognize any of the girls. They were spending the sunny afternoon in the front yard washing someone's car. They were having a good time, obviously. Charlie watched them admiringly. One of the girls was openly flirting with him; she sprayed water in his direction and asked him if he had another beer.

"Sure," he said. "Come and get it."

She dropped her sponge and hose and darted over to his front porch. He went inside and brought out two more beers and handed one to her. She sat on the banister, toying with the label.

"Not much of a drinker, are you?" he asked, settling back down in his porch swing.

She shook her head. "No. I just couldn't think of another way to talk to you. I'm Bethany, by the way."

He smiled lazily. "I'm Charlie. You haven't lived here very long, have you?'

She shook her head as she took a drink. "Not really. You're not home much, are you?"

"Nope."

"What's with the dog?" she asked.

"It's my housekeeper's." he said. "Still a puppy."

"May I see it?"

"Sure. If I can wrench it out of Minnie's hands. She's very devoted to the little bastard." Charlie got up and went back inside. He asked Minnie if he could borrow Hercules for a while and Minnie reluctantly handed him over.

"Don't worry, Minnie, I won't let anything happen to him," he said to her distraught look.

Minnie stayed peering out the window while Bethany, and then her friends came over and played with him. Hercules enjoyed the girls' attention, which Charlie found ironic. The girls were completely diverted by the cute little puppy, they were oblivious to the sobs coming from the inside the house. Minnie was having some kind of separation anxiety. Finally, Charlie stood up and grabbed Hercules from literally one of the girls' bosom. Hercules growled at Charlie, but he ignored him. "Sorry," he said to the girls. "Time for the little demon's nap."

"Uh, may we come over again and play with your, um, puppy?" Bethany asked.

"Not a good idea if I'm not here," he said, prying the dog's jaws from the fleshy area between his thumb and forefinger, where he had taken a huge bite. "You don't want to fuck with the housekeeper."

As he opened the front door and threw the dog into Minnie's waiting arms, he heard a loud pop in his back yard. _Ah, _he thought_, company._ The pop was loud enough for even the girls to notice. Charlie closed the door quickly.

"What was that?" one of the girls asked. "We hear that noise all the time."

Charlie couldn't even come up with a good lie to explain the sound, so he merely shrugged. "What noise?" he asked innocently. Hercules started yapping like crazy.

The guests, Charlie figured by the noise were probably Jason and Lee, raucously made their way through the house out the front door.

"You still have that fucking demon dog?" Lee asked, hopping on one foot. "The little shit bit me again. I swear I'm going to put a hex—hello, ladies," he said quickly when he saw the porch full of young nubile lovelies.

Jason pushed him aside and strutted out on the porch, slamming the door on Owen. "Oh, look," Jason said. "Party time."

Owen came outside rubbing his shoulder and stopped at the sight. The ladies appeared to be extremely happy to see the addition of Jason and Lee. Owen, who had probably just turned 18, and grew up in a very sheltered wizard environment, turned deep red and his eyes grew to the size of saucers as he gazed at the bevy of near naked muggle girls.

Charlie looked at Owen, smiled and shook his head. "Ladies, these are some friends of mine: Jason, Lee, and Owen." Each smiled when Charlie mentioned his name, except for Owen, who blushed even deeper.

"Kid," Lee said to Owen, "Bring us back some beers, and not that watered down shit Charlie keeps for company, have Minnie show you to good stuff."

"Fuck you, Lee. You keep drinking up the good stuff. You really should bring something with you sometime. Well, Junior?" Charlie said, looking at Owen, "Piss off. Go. You heard the man." Owen turned and ran back into the house.

The rest of the afternoon and evening was taken up trying to impress the young college students. Charlie figured it was enough of a distraction. The next few weeks were going to be extremely busy for Charlie and his team. He was glad that this week's game was at home.

He threw everyone out by 10 o'clock and went to bed. Jason and Lee were probably expecting an invitation to spend the night, but threw them out as well.

The week's practice was especially grueling. Florida had unexpectedly beaten the highly favored Phoenix, so Popov wanted to make sure everyone was ready for the game. They studied the game carefully observing the keeper, who must have had a bad night allowing 150 points to Arizona. Their final score was 160-150, with Florida's Tommy Madison pulling the victory out at the last minute. Charlie had no intentions of losing the game and he worked himself harder than ever. Every night Charlie barely made it home before midnight and got up the next morning at 5:30 to practice some more. Owen impressed him by staying right with him and practicing just as hard. If anything happened to Charlie, he was confident that Owen could take his place and fight just as hard he did.

The actual game against the Everglades proved less exciting than the practices Coach Popov put his team through. Joanna had scored 110 points within the first hour. Madison missed the Golden Snitch six times and finally Charlie spotted it a few hundred yards from Jordan's head and swooped in to claim the victory. Once again the chasers failed to score against the phenomenal Jordan Kingsley. The Reds were 2-0 after the second week of play.


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: This chapter is dedicated to Rhon du Gail, who invented the Hawai'i 'Aumakua Magic. Thanks, sweetie.--Rita. **

_Based on characters created by J. K. Rowling_

Chapter 9

Weeks three through five proved how good the Reds truly were. At the end of week five, they were 5 – 0. The only other team with that record was the new Hawaii team, the 'Aumakua Magic. The Reds were scheduled to play Hawaii during week six. The happy news was that the team was traveling to Hawaii for the meet.

Charlie had his trip planned to the last detail. He'd never been to Hawaii, but he'd heard that it was a virtual paradise and was crawling with beautiful women. Coach's schedule for practice in the week prior to the game was grueling. The Magic was the only other undefeated team, and their seeker was comparable to Jordan in skill. He went in knowing the game was going to be tough, before it was over; he had no idea how rough it would be.

The players for Hawaii were warriors, in the true sense of the word. They were fierce. Since they were the newest team in the USA Quidditch League, most of the other teams dismissed them out of hand, but Coach Popov knew better. The Magic may be new to the league, but not to Quidditch. The team had been together since the 1700's and played for the powerful Pacific Rim League.

The club was very welcoming; there were receptions, parties, lots of luaus. The night before the game, the team presented a dance show depicting the creation of the islands and the team. It was very fierce. Before the English wizards introduced Quidditch to the native Hawaiian wizards, they played a variation of the game. In their version, the quaffle was the severed head of an enemy and the bludgers were actual boulders. There six beaters, four carried heavy flat bats, and two carried throwing spears. Losers were often thrown into the volcanoes to appease the Pele. Kimo Salavea, one of the team's chasers, explained that they hadn't thrown anyone in for a very long time. He laughed heartily when he said it.

The second dance show was performed by beautiful women, who moved sensuously to the music; they told stories as well, but they were more about how they please their men. Charlie was sure these beauties were just as powerful as the European Veela. He found himself with his eyes glazed over, desperately trying to impress the women. The other team members were acting the same way, except Joanna, who had to pull Jordan away from one of the women who wanted him to dance with her.

The players had a wonderful sense of humor, and Charlie felt right at home. Most of the players had as many tattoos as Charlie and were impressed by his. They were curious about his tribal tattoo, and he explained that he was part of an army in Mexico that fought evil wizards and dark magic. The team was _very_ impressed.

The party was thrown by the Magic's owners, the same wizards who owned Menehune Mac, the macadamia nut candy company. They gave the Dragons cases of their wonderful chocolate covered macadamia nuts and brittle.

Charlie's new friends introduced him to wizards surfing, which was done on a flat broomstick. The idea was to take off in the air and swoop down into the water, catching a wave and riding it in to shore. It was a lot harder than it looked because it was done in the middle of the night, and one of the tricks (which, of course Charlie insisted on trying) was to dive deep into the water before finding the perfect wave. One of the last things Charlie remembered before crashing head on into a reef, before pushing up to the surface to catch the wave was, "Mum would kill me if she saw me do this!" He loved it.

The Quidditch pitch was over the volcano on the Big Island. It had been magicked, of course to resist the heat. The number of fans showing up was unbelievable. Charlie had no idea there were that many wizards on the islands. They must have come from thousands of miles.

The show before the game recreated the same dance show the team saw the night before, only played in the air. A _kahuna pule_, or holy man, blessed the field and the teams, and a sacrifice was made to Pele, the fire goddess. As Kimo explained the night before, you did NOT want to piss off Pele.

The game was the hardest anyone had ever fought. It was absolutely brutal. The Magic played liked the warriors they were, and the Reds fought back at every turn. Jordan was being beaten by the bludger, but he did not allow for a single goal. After 9 hours of play, the Reds chasers had scored nine goals, but at a heavy price. Alicia had been knocked in the head and was taken out of the game, Iris's arm was broken. Joanna was the only chaser who wasn't seriously injured. The Magic's keeper, Kekoa Pagaduan, flew into a fit every time the women scored against him.

The fight for the Golden Snitch was a bloody brawl. The magic's seeker, Garret Machado, was just as relentless as Charlie. The Golden Snitch was evasion and taunting. It seemed to be amused when Garret and Charlie ran into each other. What was to be the final race toward the Golden Snitch, Charlie was hit in the head by the bludger, allowing Garret the split second needed for the capture. Unbelievably, the Magic remained undefeated!

Charlie spent a week in the hospital, three days unconscious. When he woke up, he was surrounded by his team mates who thought he was dead. Garret Machado dropped by to see him and wish him well. The Magic congratulated the Reds and said it was the best game they had ever played. Charlie made some great friends in Hawaii.

With the rest of the team having to travel back to the mainland, to prepare for the match against Philadelphia. Charlie said a not so sad good-bye because he was going to stay in Hawaii. The healer told him that he'd have to meet at least one more game. Although he wasn't happy about missing the game, he knew that Owen was more than ready for the matches.

Charlie stayed in the hospital for a week and a half, and then Garret invited him to stay at his place to recuperate while the Magic traveled to Salem. Charlie spent most of the days on the beach right outside Garret's front door.

Surprisingly, Hawaii had a comparatively large wizard population, primarily tourists from Japan and the mainland. The last night before he was due to go back home, he went to the wizarding bar near Garret's house. The club was a few hundred yards off shore and completed camouflaged to muggles. He went to the club with one of the healers, who kept reminding him not to drink too much. He looked at the wizard drolly and told him he didn't have to drink to have a good time.

There were actually quite a few wizard there who were vacationing from Texas; they were fans who had a good excuse to visit Hawaii, and watch the game. They offered to buy him drinks, but Charlie was a good boy, and drank only water and fruit juice. That did not stop him from flirting. He picked up a very nice looking woman from Texas who happened to be a huge fan. She was with a couple of other friends. Charlie didn't invite the woman to Garret's house because he considered that rude. The young lady, whose name was Becky, invited him to her room for the night. As tempting as it was for Charlie, declined gracefully. They made out for a long time, and he reluctantly went back to the beach house alone.

Charlie was back in Texas by Thursday afternoon. He immediately went to the practice field and met up with his team mates. Coach Popov almost smiled when he saw him. He'd missed the seventh game against Pennsylvania; the Reds slaughtered the Patriots 480 – 0. The team made up for the loss the previous week. The last two games were home games and then the tournaments would begin the following week. As it stood at that point, the four teams going into the tournament would be New Jersey, Florida, Hawaii and the Reds, but anything was possible in the last two weeks of play.

Popov looked at him closely. "Are you well?" he asked.

"Yes, sir," he said. "I'm more than fine. I'm ready to play, Coach."

Coach Popov studied him for a minute. "Hunter's doing well."

Charlie looked down and nodded. "Your call, coach. I understand."

"Get in the air, I'll let you know." Coach said curtly.

Charlie mounted his broom and kicked off the ground hard. He flew up to met Joanna and Jordan in the air. Joanna embraced him.

"You okay now?" she asked.

Charlie smiled and nodded. "I'm doing great," he said. "And what's been going while I've been gone?"

"Same old shit. Our little Owen's doing well."

"I know. I watched the game Saturday night. You were incredible."

"So, are you going to start Saturday?" she asked nervously.

Charlie shrugged. "Probably not. I haven't gotten in the practice I need. Owen'll be fine. He's a real good player. If Ryan were still here, I'd be worried, but Owen far better than Ryan. I think we've got a real shot against Arizona."

"Arizona's good this year."

Charlie nodded, agreeing. "They'll make the playoffs for sure."

"I hope you get to play."

Charlie shrugged. "We'll soon find out."

After practice, Charlie got word that he would be starting in Saturday's game. Only two more weeks in the season left.

**A/N: Keep up with the USA Quidditch League teams. Link is on my profile. There's also a link to the North American Dragon Preserve website as well. Rita**


	10. Chapter 10

_Based on characters created by J. K. Rowling_

Chapter 10

Charlie sat on his broom overlooking the nest of American Reds. He had just released a baby that was incubated in the preserve's nursery. The little Red had been scented, which meant that he had been sprayed with his mother's scent, so both would recognized the other. It was now only a couple of weeks before he was due back at the Reds' training camp for another season.

The past months had whirled past him in a blur. He couldn't believe this time last year he was just reporting to the preserve for duty and only spent a couple of months before reporting to the Reds' training camp. The Reds only had one loss this past season and that was against Hawai'i. The final tournament for the USA Quidditch League championship was a heart stopping game against the Reds who had defeated the New Jersey Flyers and Hawai'i beat Florida to face each other. In the end, Charlie managed to snatch the Gold Snitch away from Garret Machado in a ferocious battle that took both seekers high above the playing field to inches above the grass. The final score was 150-0. The game lasted 12 hours. Once again the American Red Dragons became the USA Quidditch League champions.

The Salem Cats offered Owen a better contract and a chance to play first team, and Charlie told him he'd be dumb not to take it. He was one of the best players Charlie had ever seen and was ready for the starting team. Owen said he liked playing with the Reds, and wanted he'd think about the offer during the off season. Charlie got the feeling he wouldn't be returning to the Reds next year.

"As much as I love you, mate, I'm not giving up my slot for you," Charlie told him.

When he returned to the dragon preserve, he was thrilled to discover that Jonas had, indeed returned, and Daniel Schleif was no longer a part of the organization. All over-night camping was barred from the site and the only tours that Jonas allowed were day trips where the tourists (and school children) got to see the nursery and a tour of the facility escorted by Jonas personally.

Charlie spent most of his on duty time working the dragons and only occasionally had to fly the perimeter, ensuring that the dragons and other magical creatures didn't collide with the muggle population. Once again, Charlie was at peace.

Charlie was working a double shift; during the day he was working with the dragons and this evening he had to guard the perimeter. It was Friday night and a lot of muggle traffic was expected. He was working with Ricardo, one of his best friends and they were planning a trip to Mexico on their next days off.

"Pretty quiet so far," commented Ricardo when they met up at 10 o'clock. "Nothing unusual. What'd you do today?"

Charlie yawned and stretched on his broom anxious to get some flying time this evening. "I released that baby American Red to its mother today. She took to him right away."

"How many were released this month?" He asked.

Charlie smiled. "Four this year. There are seven eggs incubating now. It's been a good year for harvesting."

Ricardo nodded. "It helps when the director is more interested in dragons than gold."

"Absolutely," Charlie agreed. "So we still on for Mexico? I think I'm off tomorrow and Sunday."

"_Bueno_. I know a couple of girls. Are you interested?" He asked.

"Sure. Wait, where'd you meet them?" He asked, cautiously.

"Don't you trust me?" Ricardo asked. "I'm insulted."

"No, you're not. You know damn well why I asked you. Remember a couple of months ago when you talked me into going out with the girls who turned out to be men?"

"Hey, amigo, they were beautiful," he said defensively.

"Only because you were drunk."

Ricardo shrugged. "Well, I _was_ pretty drunk. But this time, you'll see. They're on vacation. I think they're from England, or somewhere like that. Just say you'll go."

Charlie sighed dramatically. "What the fuck. Okay, I'm in. Where were you planning to meet?"

"How about the _Turquoise Iguana_? Ten o'clock?"

"Sure."

They were quiet for a while. They watched a car approaching from a distance. They could hear the car radio, mostly bass and the head lamps showed the car weaving from side to side across the road.

"Oh, shit," Charlie said. "Drunks."

The car finally pulled over and two women and a man spilled out of the car and ran toward a small ditch. One of the women kneeled and began vomiting. The other woman held her hair back while the man peed against a boulder. Obviously the man heard a noise from behind the boulder, and probably without zipping his pants, walked around to see what the noise was.

Charlie and Ricardo looked at each other and shook their heads. Taking a deep breath, they waited for the inevitable screaming. Once it began, they swooped in and found exactly what they were expecting: the muggle man had become entangled in an enormous spider web. By panicking, he had wound himself tighter into the web, and the giant arachnid had come to see what the web had captured.

Charlie landed on top of the boulder and called out, "Don't move, you're just making it worse." The man continued to struggle. Charlie pointed his wand and stupefied the spider, throwing it back at least fifty feet so Ricardo could get at the man.

Ricardo used an untangling spell and cut away the web. It took him a while because the man continued to struggle. Finally, Ricardo threw a paralyzing hex on him so he could cut him out. The paralyzing charm helped to get the man away from the web and carry him to the women. For some reason, they hadn't heard his screams, but started screaming as soon as they saw Ricardo and Charlie carrying their friend.

"Shut the fuck up," Ricardo said menacingly. "You'll draw attention to yourselves."

The women clung to each other, still drunk, but decidedly afraid that these two men had killed their friend and were about to do the same to them. In a panic, one of the women ran off into the desert. Charlie let her run for a while until she started to run into a magical fog, which probably contained sirens. He took off on his broom and swept her up grabbing her around her waist. He held her very close and whispered, "I have you. I won't hurt you." His voice was very reassuring and she went completely limp.

He set her down gently next to her friends.

"Is he dead?" the woman asked.

"No, but he might have been. What the fuck were you doing in the middle of the night in the desert? Were you trying to get yourselves killed? It's very dangerous out here in the best of times." He spoke quietly, but was very irritated. "I would tell you to leave immediately, but no one's in a position to drive. Get back in your car, now!" He herded the three back into the stilling running car. He magically shut off the engine.

"You'll be safe in you stay inside. The car's not going to start until you're sober, then you can drive out of here. The car won't start now, so don't try. You're not going to remember any of this, except that you won't travel into the desert at night." Charlie said in a soothing voice.

Ricardo and he put a protective charm over the car after giving them a memory and sleep spell. They would wake up in a couple of hours and drive off confused but at least alive.

The rest of the evening went fairly quietly. More drunks, but no spiders. At dawn, Charlie and Ricardo flew down to the parked car and watched the car drive away. After checking in at the headquarters building Charlie wrote their report. They went to the dining hall for a quick cup of coffee and breakfast before going to bed..

Charlie was getting a cup of coffee when he spotted his friend, Mike just sitting down. He waved to him and Mike motioned for him to join him.

"I haven't seen you in a long time," Charlie said. "We always seem to be missing each other. How's things going with Lindsey?"

"Much better. Thanks for asking. Oh! Before I forget, you've got a package at the house. We've had it for ages. Some gallery delivered it. Lindsey put it away and I've been meaning to tell you we had it, but it slipped my mind."

Charlie froze. Jessica's painting. "Have you heard from Jessica lately? I take it she did run off to the artists' colony? I've tried getting in touch, but nothing."

Mike reddened. "Lindsey talks to her."

"Is she back? Where did she go?" he asked.

"Uh, Charlie, don't get the wrong idea, but Jessica doesn't want to see you any more." Mike said.

Charlie looked at him. "Why? What did I do?"

Mike squirmed in his chair. "I'm sorry, Charlie. I promised Lindsey I wouldn't tell you."

"Tell me what? If I did something wrong, I'd like to know. You know I really care about her." Charlie said. He thought about the last time he saw her. She might have been a little distant, but he didn't believe that's she run away just to get away from him.

Mike blew out a loud breath. "I'm sorry, man. I love you, but I love my wife more. I really want to stay married."

"Well," Charlie said, confused. "Is Lindsey still pissed off at me?"

Mike laughed. "Oh yeah."

"Why? Does it have to do with Jessica?" he asked.

"Of course it does. Look, I can't tell you, but if you guessed, then I'd be off the hook." Mike reasoned. "See, technically, I didn't tell you, but you figured it out yourself."

"Mike, I'm too fucking tired to think. Why can't you just tell me? Give me a hint." He said, getting more irritated. "And will you at least tell me where she is so I can talk to her myself?"

Mike took a sip of coffee and thought about it for a moment. "A hint, huh?" He said, ignoring the rest of what Charlie asked. "I guess I could give you a hint." He scratched his chin. "She's not at an artists' colony, but she did move. She bought a house with the money she made from her show. She's really happy now."

"Fuck, Mike. Did she meet someone and get married?"

Mike shook his head. "She's not married, but she did meet someone."

"Oh," he said quietly. "Okay." He nodded to himself. He felt a painful, funny feeling in his chest "Right. Well, it's only fair. I wasn't much of a boyfriend, was I?" He said more to himself than to Mike. He blew out a breath. "I'll send Minnie round for the painting. I guess Lindsey doesn't want to see me, huh?"

"No, you come by, anytime." Mike said. "Lindsey will get over it. I think she should talk to you anyway. It's not fair to you."

"How about after work on Monday? Boo and I are going to Mexico this weekend." Boo was Ricardo's nickname because he had the ghastly habit of just popping in out of no where.

"Sure. That'll give me enough time to settle Lindsey down. She still loves you in her own way, you know."

"I guess. So, I'll see you Monday evening, then."

Charlie went back to his room at the bunk house. His roommate, Jack had already left for the day. He magicked the room to go dark so he could sleep. He was very tired, but he kept thinking about Jessica. By the time he drifted off to sleep, he decided he was glad that Jessica met someone. He was absolutely no good for her and their lives were totally different. She deserved a chance to be happy. Sadly, he thought, he could never have made her happy in the long term.

The trip to Mexico turned out to be the shag-fest Charlie was hoping for to get his mind off Jessica. The girls weren't from England; they were from New England, but it didn't matter. He stayed drunk the whole weekend. His "date", Lisa, was as passionate as anyone would have dreamed of. He actually danced with her, which was more like shagging with their clothes on standing up. He knew he'd probably regret being so demonstrative in public, but he was in a 'what the fuck' mood.

So, it didn't come as too much of a surprise, when he saw his nearly pornographic display splashed across the cover of several celebrity magazines on Monday morning. It didn't help matters either that the pictures had to be the one where Lisa's top kept dipping exposing a very ample breast. He was just very glad it wasn't Quidditch season. By the time the season started, everyone would have forgotten about the pictures and the fans would have moved on to other salacious gossip.

Unfortunately, Lindsey saw the photographs, and whatever forgiving mood she may have been in soon vanished in a tirade that would have scared off a werewolf. He let her rant, while Mike took his kids and went outside.

Finally, after about a half hour, Charlie held up his hand. "Okay," he said. "You made your point. But I'm not the one who walked out on Jessica. She took off on me."

"Well, can you blame her?" she said, just warming up again.

"Look, I don't know what I did, and since she ran away, I can't find out. I would have loved to have known so I could apologize, but that's a little too late."

"You arrogant, selfish son of a bitch!" She screamed at him. "You wouldn't know, would you? You heartless bastard."

"Then tell me what the fuck I supposedly did to her!" he yelled back. Charlie very rarely lost his temper, but he thought Lindsey was over the top.

"All you wanted from her was sex," she countered.

"So? It was mutual. And it wasn't just sex. Is that what she told you?"

"No," Lindsey waved the magazine in front of his face. "You humiliated her every time you cheated on her."

Charlie snatched the magazine from Lindsey and threw it against a wall. "How was our relationship any of your fucking business, anyway?"

"Because she is my cousin and my best friend, that's why. And there's no excuse for what you did to her." She yelled back.

"What the fuck did I do, Lindsey? Tell me why I'm such a lousy son of a bitch!"

"You got her pregnant, that's what!"

Charlie could not have been more stunned if someone had told him he mother was a death eater. "_What?_ She what? Are you, what?" He kept repeating.

Lindsey stood in front of him with her hands over her mouth. Charlie grabbed her by her arms. "Where is she?" He shook her hard. He heard someone come up behind him. It was Mike. He spun around sharply.

"Did you know about this?" Charlie asked angrily.

Mike had his wand out. "Charlie, you need to let go of my wife," he said very calmly, but in a dangerous tone. "Calm down. Jessica made Lindsey swear she wouldn't say anything to you. This was her decision. Lindsey tried to talk her into telling you; hell we both did, but she wouldn't hear of it. God knows why. That's why she went off. She gave birth to a little girl. She's determined to raise the child herself. She said it would be for the best. She knew that you'd do the right thing and marry her, but she didn't want to 'obligate' you, is what she said."

Charlie let go of Lindsey and sat down, still stunned. It wasn't possible. He had a daughter? "What's her name?" he asked.

"Ingrid, after our grandmother," Lindsey said quietly. "She's beautiful."

"I need to see her, Lindsey. Is she magical?" he asked.

Mike shrugged. "Too soon to tell."

"How old is she? When was she born?"

"November 4th." Mike said.

"Mike, please. I need to see Jessica. Please. Tell me where she is." He begged in a voice that sounded full of pain. "I can't live my life not knowing her. Please."


	11. Chapter 11

_Based on characters created by J. K. Rowling_

Chapter 11

Charlie had never been so angry or confused in his life. At this moment, he was more confused than angry. Wrapping his head around the fact that he _might_ have a daughter was almost impossible to comprehend. When had he stopped being careful? He remembered Jessica telling him she took care of contraception; did that make him forget about taking precautions? How could he be sure it was his child? After all, neither of them was monogamous; well, he wasn't and he always believed that she, well, actually, he couldn't picture her with another man; which was totally unreasonable and selfish on his part. Okay, he rationalized, maybe it was a mistake and he wasn't really a father.

He couldn't be a father; he didn't even like children. No, no, no, it was a mistake, somebody's idea of a sick joke. That was it. Jessica told Lindsey he was the father, but he wasn't really. She was protecting some muggle she had sex with because. . . Because? She ran away and didn't want to see him again because she was having someone else's baby? Well, that made no sense. Unless she was ashamed of getting pregnant. Well, that was just stupid, if she didn't want to have a child, she certainly didn't _have_ to. And why would she tell her own cousin and best friend that Charlie was the father if he wasn't?

He needed to see Jessica. _Now_. If he saw her face to face, he would know the truth. Okay, remote possibility he was the father, why did she run away? What if the baby—Ingrid—that's a beautiful name, _was_ magical? Surely she would want Charlie around to make sure she got the proper education and upbringing. _Mum's going to kill me_._ No, Mum would love another grandchild. Of course, she'd expect us to get married. _

Now the angry part was taking over. He could not understand how Jessica could keep such a thing from him; and conspiring with Lindsey to keep him in the dark. And Mike! How the fuck could Mike not have told him? They were friends, for God's sake! More than friends; they were comrades.

"Mike," he said, finally. "How could you have not told me?"

He shrugged. "Lindsey asked me not to."

"But," Charlie raked his fingers through his hair. "We're wizards, Mike."

Lindsey looked taken aback, and waited for Mike to say something. Mike looked down and didn't say anything. Lindsey's face got very red. Was magic thicker than love?

"Mike," she started, but he continued to look at the floor. "What does being a wizard have to do with anything?"

Mike chewed on his lower lip and finally looked up at Lindsey. "It's something I can't explain. I'm sorry, honey, but Charlie's right. He deserved to be told. I'm sorry, Charlie."

Charlie nodded. "Will you please tell me where she is?" His voice was calm. He had made his point.

Lindsey was still looking at Mike. "She had her reasons for not wanted to see you," she said.

"Do you think it's fair that I'm not allowed to see her?" he asked. Charlie wasn't sure if he meant Jessica or Ingrid. "Whatever the reasons she may have, which I think is bull shit, by the way, I should talk to her. You can arrange for her to come here if you don't trust me."

Lindsey still resisted the idea and wouldn't commit to helping him. Finally, Charlie sighed and said, "Would you at least tell her that I miss her and would love to see her. You don't have to say that I know anything about the baby, or that you told me."

Lindsey looked chagrined. She had spilled the proverbial beans without meaning to. Jessica was going to be extremely pissed at her. If Charlie was working her guilty nerve, it worked. She pursed her lips and made a face. Sighing heavily, she said, "I'll talk to her. No promises."

Charlie nodded. "Thank you," he said quietly.

He looked at the brown paper wrapped package leaning against the wall in the living room. He gingerly tore away the paper, revealing the self portrait of Jessica. He caught his breath. He touched her face and smiled. Standing up, he took the brown paper and wadded it up. "Minnie, would you come here for a moment?" he asked into the air.

Suddenly there was a loud pop, and Minnie appeared, holding on to her little dog, Hercules. She bowed very low. "You called for me, Master Charlie Weasley?"

"Yes, Minnie, and I've told you a hundred times just to call me Charlie," he sighed.

She bowed very low. "Yes sir, Master Charlie Weasley, sir," she said.

"Never mind," he said. "I want you to take this painting back to the house and put it in my bedroom."

She bowed again. She looked at the painting and smiled, "Oh, Master Charlie Weasley, sir, Miss Jessica is a beautiful woman."

"How'd you know her name?" Charlie asked.

"She said her name to Minnie when she came to the house. She left an important note that. . ." Minnie began hitting herself in the head with her hand. "Oh, Master Charlie Weasley, sir, Miss Jessica gave Minnie a letter for master, and Minnie has forgotten to give it to Master Charlie Weasley!" Minnie threw herself on the floor and began to wail. Hercules jumped out of the carrier and began growling and barking at Charlie.

"She was at the house?" Charlie asked, trying to get Minnie to stand up, while the dumb ass dog continued to protect her. "When?"

"Around Christmas, when you was visiting your family. Oh, forgive Minnie, Master Charlie Weasley!!" Minnie was again distraught.

"It's okay, Minnie. I need the letter. Bring it to me now, please."

Without another word, she disappeared with a pop and less than two seconds later, returned exactly in her place. She held the letter in her hand tightly. Enormous tears were rolling down her face, getting the envelope wet.

"Minnie," he said, wrenching the soggy envelope from her tightly clenched fist. "Please give me the letter. I don't want it to tear."

Immediately Minnie relaxed her hand. He took the badly mangled envelope and smoothed it out nervously. He unfolded the paper and started reading the letter.

"Dear Charlie," it began. "Merry Christmas and all that. I'm sorry I left without really saying good bye, but I had this opportunity and I took it. I don't know when I'll be back, and it's best that you not wait around for me. I know our relationship has always been odd, at best, but I didn't want to commit you to something you weren't ready for by thinking I would return. I've had so much fun knowing you and I'm going to miss our special times together. This is extremely hard for me because you know I love you, but I've met someone who gives me more joy and happiness than I thought was possible. Please don't try to find me. I'm sorry, but just know that I'm happier and more at peace than I deserve. And, although you won't understand, you're responsible for me finding the love of my life. Thank you, my darling.

"Love, Jessica."

If Charlie had read that letter when it was delivered, he would have forgotten all about Jessica by now, and that was her point. But now, he knew what she was really saying and he had no intentions of letting her get on with her life without him.

"Minnie, take the painting back like I asked you before," his tone was lifeless.

Minnie took the portrait and disappeared with another pop.

Without a word, Charlie handed the letter to Lindsey. She read the letter silently.

"Yes, she told me this was what she was going to do. She said it was best for you not to know anything about Ingrid. She didn't want you to feel obligated to marry her or support the child. She really was looking out for your best interest. And I'll admit I encouraged her. I know how hard it is to raise magical children. She thought maybe she wouldn't be a witch, and if she is, I agreed to help her out. Don't blame Mike; he didn't know anything about that part. All he knew was that she was having a baby."

Charlie's eyes shifted over to Mike. He was still pissed off at him, but he didn't say anything. "Looking out for my best interest? I'd like to know how the fuck anyone knows what's in my best interest. I want to see her, Lindsey. You arrange it. I don't care how you do it, but I want to see her as quickly as possible."

Lindsey nodded. "I'll call her tonight."

He shook his head. "No, you'll call her now."

Lindsey fished her cell phone out of her pocket and hit one button. After a couple of seconds, Lindsey said, "Hi Jess. It's me. How's it going? (pause) No, nothing's wrong. I just wondered if you had any plans this weekend. Hm. Well, would you like to come over? (pause) No, no. I just haven't seen you in a while and wanted to see you. Ooh, I bet she is. So, can you come? (pause) Great! Okay. We'll see you soon. (pause) What? Tonight? Oh yeah, that's even better. (pause) Great! See you tonight. Okay, hon, I love you, too."

Lindsey threw her cell phone on the table and stormed outside. Mike walked into the kitchen and brought back a couple of beers. He handed one to Charlie and sat down in his favorite chair.

"How long will it take?" Charlie asked.

Mike shrugged. "I honestly don't know because I don't know where she is. I guess it's pretty close by. Lindsey wouldn't tell me. It's not like she's apparating. It takes a lot to get a kid in a car. But she said tonight." He drank his beer. "Sit back and relax."

That was something Charlie couldn't do. He was too uptight. Now what? He thought. He had no idea what he was going to say to her now that his common sense had returned. He just wanted to see the baby. He wanted to be sure.

Mike and Charlie stared each other and drank beer for a couple of hours. Then around six, they heard a car pull up outside. Charlie took the last swallow of his beer and set the bottle on the table with the others. Lindsey was in the kitchen when the door bell rang and went toward the front door. Charlie stood up and held up his hand to stop her. He walked to the door, took a deep breath and opened it.

The smile on Jessica's face fell when she saw him. She had a diaper bag over her shoulder and a squirming infant in her arms. "Hi Charlie," she said.

"Hello, Jessica," he said coldly. "You want to tell me when you planned to tell me about my child?"

Jessica shifted the infant on her hip away from Charlie. She cleared her throat. "I wasn't. She isn't your problem. Ingrid's mine. You stay away from her."


	12. Chapter 12

_Based on characters created by J. K. Rowling_

Chapter 12

Jessica started to turn around but Charlie caught her arm.

"Don't go." He said quietly. "Please. Can we talk?"

"Charlie," she began. "There's a reason I didn't tell you about the baby. You may not understand, but I did a lot of thinking about this and I just thought it was easier on all concerned if you didn't find out. I didn't want you to do something you'll regret the rest of your life."

"Like take responsibility?" he asked. His voice sounded bitter and sardonic. Jessica had never heard him sound this way before.

"There's nothing to take responsibility _for_. This is entirely my fault, but I don't regret a single minute. She is loved and well cared for and will be happy and provided for. You don't need to do anything." Jessica shifted Ingrid higher on her hip.

Charlie hadn't had the nerve to look at the baby yet. His focus had been entirely on Jessica. He knew the minute he looked at Ingrid, he'd know the truth. It wasn't that he was afraid that Ingrid would look like him; he was terrified that she wouldn't.

Just then the baby began to fuss and cry. Charlie looked at her automatically and he thought his heart had stopped beating. She was beautiful. Her skin was milky white with a hint of blush. Her lips were perfect and her eyes were the clearest blue he had ever seen. The tiny wisps of hair that stood straight up on top of her head were the same shade of red as Charlie's.

In a matter of seconds, something happened to Charlie that he thought was an impossibility of nature; he fell in love. He cleared the lump out of his throat. "If you think for one second I can go on with my life without her, you're insane." He automatically reached out and touched Ingrid's cheek. "She's beautiful," he whispered.

"Come inside, please, Jessica," he said, standing aside. Jessica stepped inside, holding tightly onto Ingrid. She looked at Lindsey who was standing with her back against the wall, and blew out a loud breath. Mike was still sitting in his recliner drinking beer. Lindsey pushed away from the wall and held out her arms for Ingrid. Jessica hesitated for a second and then handed her over.

"I'm sorry," Lindsey mouthed, but Jessica just shook her head.

"I'm going to have to feed her pretty soon," Jessica said and Lindsey nodded.

Charlie picked up Jessica's other bag and brought it in the house.

"Just put that in Trudy's room," Lindsey said.

Charlie started down the hall, but Mike jumped up and took the bag. He showed him the way to his daughter's room. Her room was decorated in stars and dragonflies. She had bunk beds, also decorated with cute cartoon character sheets. Mike sat the bag down. "So, Charlie. What now?"

Charlie sat down on the edge of the bed and put his head in his hands. "I have no idea," he said. "It's really hard to think." He looked up at Mike. "I was so pissed off I didn't know what to do. I don't want her disappearing anymore. I want to be a part of Ingrid's life."

"Naturally," Mike said. "Just consider what Jessica's been going through."

Suddenly irritated, Charlie snapped, "And what would that be exactly? She should have told me about the baby as soon as she found out. Am I such a horrible person, Mike, that I wouldn't understand and try to help her out?"

"You're not a horrible person. But what if your attitude had been different and she told you about the baby and you reacted badly? I think she was protecting both of you."

Charlie agreed. "You're probably right. And I've made it known loud enough about how I feel about children. But then, I never expected to have one of my own. I know deep in my heart that she is magical, Mike. If she wasn't I would understand Jessica's feelings a little better. But, honestly, she couldn't have not wanted my help with a witch for a daughter. That makes no sense to me. It's hard enough to raise a non-magical kid, can you imagine her trying to raise a witch without some kind of help?"

"Believe me, Charlie, it's hard enough when there is wizard support. She seems to think Ingrid is non-magical. How she got that idea, I don't know."

"She's probably just hoping she's non-magical. I don't want to sound uppity or anything thing, but I come from a _long_ line of purebloods, from way back. I don't see how Ingrid cannot _not_ be magical."

"Yeah, me, too." Mike said.

Jessica walked into Trudy's room carrying Ingrid. "I'm sorry, gentlemen, she said in a strained, but courteous voice, "but I have to feed my baby." She waited while Ingrid nudged her mother's breast, looking for her supper. Mike cleared out, but Charlie stood up. He made no move to leave.

"Excuse me, Charlie. She's getting fussy." Jessica said, pulling Ingrid away from her breast.

"Don't let me stop you," he said casually, crossing her hands over his chest.

"Fine!" Jessica sat down on the bed and put the baby in the crook of her arm. She reached under her shirt and unhooked the front of the nursing bra. As discreetly as possible, she put Ingrid on her breast. She found the nipple immediately and began suckling happily. Charlie watched in awe as Jessica fed his daughter. She smoothed down her hair and made cooing sounds.

After about 10 minutes, Jessica broke the suction and pulled Ingrid off her breast. She quickly covered herself up and put the baby on her chest, with her head on her shoulder and patted and rubbed her back gently. The cloth she put on her shoulder and Charlie automatically reached for it and readjusted it for her. She smiled, "Thanks." She continued to pat and rub Ingrid's back until Charlie heard a loud burp. He was amazed that such a little thing could burp that loud. Jessica chuckled at her daughter. "Nice one," she said.

Jessica placed Ingrid on the other breast and closed her eyes as she nursed. It was such a private moment between the two of them that he just stood and watched.

"Are you just going to stare at us? I thought you wanted to talk." She said finally. Her voice was softer, but it was clear she was still irritated.

Charlie sat next to Jessica at the baby's head. He smoothed down her hair and smiled wistfully. "My mum told me my hair did this, too. She finally had to hex it down. It kind of looks like a palm tree, doesn't it?"

Jessica chuckled. "Yes, I guess it does. At least she has hair. Trudy was bald until she was almost a year old. She looked like a little old man."

Charlie kissed the top of Jessica's head. She didn't flinch; she didn't stiffen. She actually relaxed and leaned her head on Charlie's shoulder for a second, and then she looked up at him. He leaned into to her and kissed her gently on her lips.

"We can do this, Jessica. We can work this out. Please don't shut me out of her life," Charlie said quietly. "Or yours."


	13. Chapter 13

_Based on characters created by J. K. Rowling_

Chapter 13

Jessica finished feeding Ingrid, burped her again, and then changed her into her bed clothes. Changing her diaper wasn't something Charlie was usually crazy about watching, but he was fascinated by everything Jessica did for her.

"Are you willing to talk to me now?" he asked her.

"Do you understand why I did what I did?" she asked him in return.

He shook his head, then shrugged. "You probably thought it was the right thing to do. I am a bit of an ass hole. But I take responsibility for what I do."

"I know that, Charlie and you would have done the honorable thing, right?" she said. Ingrid was falling asleep in her arms. She held her close and kissed her hair. Charlie touched her hand and Ingrid grabbed hold of his finger, holding on tight. He felt a lump in his throat.

"Yes," he answered. "I would have married you. And I will marry you now if you wanted to."

Jessica cupped his face in her hand. "I know you would, but I still don't want to get married. We've been over this." She said.

"But doesn't Ingrid change things?" he asked.

Jessica shook her head. "Not at all."

"You didn't want me in Ingrid's life, does that still hold true?"

"Oh, Charlie. You know I can't think straight when I'm around you. You make everything seem like it makes sense. I don't know," she said honestly.

"Okay, but what if Ingrid's a witch? How are you planning to raise her with her "special skills" as you call them?" Now they were getting into the meat of the matter. The issue, at least for Charlie was having a magical child. He believed she was a witch and would need the right education to develop her powers. "If she is, I want her to have a wizarding education, which means she'll attend one of the wizarding schools here in America or at Hogwarts where I went to school."

"You can forget all about Hogwarts," Jessica said. "She's not going away from here. I guess I'll consider one of the schools here." She sighed heavily and Charlie grinned. That was a concession won; Jessica agreed to have Ingrid educated in wizarding schools.

She looked at the smug expression on Charlie face. "If, and that's a big if, she's magical. If she isn't will you consider stepping out of her life all together?"

"Of course not. Don't be ridiculous. She's still my child whether she's a witch or not." _But I know she is, _he said to himself.

Jessica stood up with Ingrid in her arms and placed her gently in the portable crib Lindsey had set up in Trudy's room. She covered her with a blanket and kissed her head.

"Let's go outside and talk," she said, quietly holding out her hand for Charlie.

"Will she be all right?" Charlie asked looking at her daughter. "I mean shouldn't we stay in here in case she wakes up?"

Jessica chuckled. "Uh, no. She'll be fine. Come on." She took his hand and they walked through the house toward the back door. Lindsey peered out from Mike Jr.'s room and smiled at them. Jessica smiled back. She would talk to her cousin later. Mike looked up from his book and nodded at Charlie.

The back door led out to the enormous deck which had a spectacular view of the desert and the mountains in the distance. Jessica led Charlie to the railing. Before she could say a word to him, Charlie pulled her into his arms and was kissing her. She didn't resist; she didn't know how. She needed him as much as he wanted her.

"I've missed you," he whispered as his lips followed the line from her ear to her throat, and back to her lips, deepening the kiss until she responded with a soft moan. She wrapped her arms around his neck and returned the kiss with a shuttering sigh.

She laughed shakily as she gently pushed him away. "This is how I got into trouble in the first place. I never could resist you."

"I'm counting on that." He said, wrapping his arms around her once again. He whispered in her ear again, "Let me be a part of your life again. I want my daughter to know me."

"Charlie, it's so complicated." She said, snuggling closer in to him.

"No, it isn't," he insisted.

"Okay," she pushed him away again and she sat down on one of the deck chairs. "What about your celebrity status in your world? Wouldn't having a daughter be a real issue?"

Charlie sighed. "You have a point. If the press even has a hint of this, they might not leave you alone. There are two approaches, I guess. The first is, I'm completely honest and tell the whole story. It'll be a pain in the ass at first, but after a while it'll die down, especially if I'm completely honest and tell everyone to leave you and Ingrid alone for privacy reasons; and then there's I don't say anything."

"I like that one," Jessica said.

He shook his head. "The blood suckers figure out the story and stalk you for a photograph. That gets really ugly. Well, you know, remember when we first started going out; you were harassed by the press and fans. I think honesty is better. If I tell everyone then there's no story. Nothing to dig up."

Jessica chewed on her bottom lip. "What if Ingrid and I just disappeared?"

"What are you saying?" Charlie asked, alerted in the calmness of her voice.

She shrugged. "Two days ago you didn't know she existed. Can't we just go back to that? You were much better off not knowing. I think we all were."

Charlie stood up, angrily. "No!" he said. "I can't pretend she doesn't exist. You think you can just walk away from me now?"

"For the baby, I'm willing to do anything to protect her."

His voice was low, but menacing. "Do you have any idea what I'm capable of? If you tried to keep her from me, I will use all my power to find you again. Don't even say things like that. I cannot just give myself a memory charm and forget about her. She is as much a part of me and my life as she is yours."

"Sorry," she said meekly. She wiped a tear from her cheek.

Charlie shifted uncomfortably. "I need to tell my family and Joanna."

Jessica shut her eyes tightly and shook her head.

"When I go public with this, they'll need to be warned." He said.

"Then don't go public. Please. Not right away. For me." She said.

He nodded. "Okay, but I'm telling my family."

She sighed heavily. "Oh, great."

"Honestly, it will be okay. They'll love you." He assured her.

"Remember the reason I wouldn't marry you in the first place?" He shook his head. "The whole wizarding world, remember? I don't want to be a part of the wizarding thing. That's one of the reasons I didn't want you to know about Ingrid. Our worlds are totally different and I just don't fit in."

Charlie was irritated. "That's beside the point, considering you have a magical daughter."

"_May_. May have. We're not sure about that right now." Jessica said.

Charlie rolled his eyes. "I know what I know. Did you give her my last name?" he asked suddenly.

"No, you're not on the birth certificate at all. Her name is Johansen. Ingrid Louisa Johansen. She's named after both my grandmothers."

"Where did you move?" he asked casually.

"I bought a house in the country. It's perfect for us. It has a wonderful studio and a nice garden. There's plenty of room for Ingrid when she gets bigger. It's so much nicer than the tiny apartment I had. It's outside Las Cruces; and I'm still teaching at the community college there."

"Who watches Ingrid when you're teaching?" he asked harshly.

"I take her with me. They give more leeway to artists. I keep her in a little play pen beside my desk. She loves it. She's very social and I use her as a model sometimes. She's quite the little ham." Jessica smiled.

"I'm not sure I'm comfortable for her to be around a lot of strange people," Charlie said.

"They're not strange people, Charlie. They're artists. Besides, it isn't your call anyway. She's perfectly safe. I'd never let anything happen to her. You know that." She said calmly, but her irritation showed.

Charlie ignored her tone. "I've got to leave for training camp in a few weeks. I want you to bring Ingrid and stay with me at my house in Austin. That way we can be closer."

"Uh, no," she said. "I've got responsibilities in Las Cruces. I 'm not going disrupt my life or Ingrid's by moving all the way to Austin just because you tell me to. That's crazy. Look," she sighed heavily. "I'm willing to let you be a part of her life, but I don't want you to take over my life. We can arrange visits at my convenience if that's what you want, but this is strictly voluntary on my part, you understand. I'll not have you controlling our lives."

"Shit, Jessica." He said, raking his hands through his hair. "Why are you being such a pain in the ass?"

"That's like the pot calling the kettle black," she answered.

"Eh? Doesn't matter. If you insist on working, you can find a teaching position in Austin and Minnie can take care of Ingrid so you don't have to drag her out."

"Who's Minnie?" she asked. "Another girl friend?"

"No," he chuckled. "Minnie works for me as a housekeeper. She loves kids and she's the perfect nanny. Of course," he lowered his voice considerably so that Jessica could hardly hear him, "she's a house elf."

"What?" she asked. "I didn't get that last part. She's a what?"

Charlie coughed and cleared his throat. "A house elf," he said without explanation.

"What's a house elf?" she asked, and then she began shaking her head. "Oh no, forget that, buddy, no strange creatures around my child. And you were worried about artists. I don't think so."

"At least meet her," Charlie said. "You'll love her. So you'll at least think about it. That's good."

"Wait, I never said that! I believe I said no quite plainly." She said.

"Come on, baby," he purred. He playfully tugged on her folded arms. "Just give it some thought. It'll be perfect." She pushed his hand away. He grabbed her hand and pulled her to him, crushing her into him. He kissed her but she struggled against him, causing him to hold her tighter. He breathed into her ear, "Just think about it," he whispered, then he began nibbling and kissing her ear and neck until she did respond.

"Okay," she whimpered. "I'll think about it, but, oh! Don't get your—you're not playing fair."

He chuckled. "I never said I would."


	14. Chapter 14

_Based on characters created by J. K. Rowling_

Chapter 14

Charlie spent most of the night trying to convince Jessica to move in with him in Austin with the baby, but she wouldn't budge. He was, however, able to talk her into letting him visit her and Ingrid at her house, which was _some _consolation. She had moved away from adamantly refusing any contact, to home visits. She also finally said yes to allowing Charlie to tell his family, but refusing to meet them. That might be a problem because there was no way on earth or in the cosmos that Jessica would hand over Ingrid to Charlie for a trip to England. He would just have to rely on muggle photographs.

Ingrid woke up once during the night before Charlie went to sleep. He stayed with Jessica while she fed her and changed her diaper, all the while wondering how he was going to tell his mother about her. He watched her sleep and she stuck out her bottom lip in a pout that was so familiar he thought his heart would break.

Mike invited Charlie to spend the night—he loved sleeping on the deck outside, but Lindsey wasn't very enthusiastic about the arrangement. She still tried to protect her cousin and was annoyed that Charlie made her so angry that she gave her secret away. Lindsey was afraid that Charlie would seduce Jessica and she would lose all reason, but Jessica was a lot stronger than her cousin gave her credit for. They spent most of the night talking, which was good for both of them. When she finally said good night for the last time, she reached over and kissed him.

"If you get lonely," he began, holding on to her hand. "You know where to find me."

She grinned and walked back into the house. Alone outside, Charlie thought about what he was going to put into the letter to his family. His parents were convinced he would never settle down or give them a grandchild. He'd always figured he'd leave that to the other siblings. But now; now it was different, he was a father. He couldn't wait until Ingrid showed signs of being a witch. It probably wouldn't happen for at least a couple of months, but he'd be there when she did. He smiled to himself. He planned to be there for all her firsts.

Charlie fell asleep under the stars. The last thought in his head that night was how beautiful his daughter was. It had been an incredible day.

Mike's daughter Trudy was staring at Charlie when he woke up the next morning. She grinned at him. "Daddy asked me to give you this," she said pointing to a large mug of steaming hot coffee on the table beside him.

"Bless you, child," he said. "You didn't bring it out here yourself did you?"

She shook her head. "Daddy did a hover charm and I just scooted it along."

"Thanks, sweetie. Is Jessica awake yet?" he asked taking hold of the cup and taking a large drink.

Trudy nodded. "She's feeding Ingrid."

Charlie jumped up, stretched the kinks out of his back and strolled, coffee cup in hand, back into the house. Mike looked up from the newspaper he was reading, nodded, and returned to the paper. He figured Charlie was headed to see Ingrid and he didn't want to interrupt.

Jessica was lying on the bed with Ingrid snuggled up next to her. She looked up at Charlie and smiled. He sat down next to her and kissed the baby's head and then kissed Jessica softly. "Good morning," he whispered.

Jessica smiled, then she grimaced, "Ow, you little sucker," she said, smoothing down Ingrid's hair.

Charlie gave her a quizzical look, and Jessica laughed, "The little sucker bit me," she said.

"Ouch," Charlie repeated.

"She's just playing now," Jessica explained. She took the baby off her breast, covered herself up and sat up. "Do you want to burp her?"

Charlie sat back with a terrified look on his face. "Uh, no you go ahead."

Jessica chuckled softly. "You won't break her." She put the infant's head on his shoulder. His big hand completely covered her back and he began to pat her awkwardly.

"She's so tiny," he whispered, continuing to pat her, more boldly this time.

"Oh, Charlie, you should—" she said just as Ingrid spit up on his shoulder. "Put the towel on your shoulder in case she spits up. Oops." She laughed, mopping his shoulder.

"I've had worse, believe me," he said laughing. Jessica mercifully took the baby.

"I have to go to work. Tell me you and Ingrid will be here tonight." Charlie said.

"We'll be here." She said. Charlie leaned over and kissed her. She closed her eyes and smiled. He kissed the baby's head and stood up.

Mike was waiting for him in the kitchen. "You have a little something on your shoulder," he said. "Hold still." Mike pointed his wand at the spot and said, "_Scourgify," _and it disappeared.

"Thanks, Mike. I need to get to work. I'll see you there." He said. Before he headed out to the back yard, he turned. "I understand why you did it. It's going to work out."

He nodded. "I think so, too."

Charlie went outside and disapparated in the cold morning air. He apparated outside the bunk house and ran inside to change clothes. He was running a little late and probably wouldn't have time for much of a breakfast, and decided to grab a burrito on his way to the scheduling room. His roommate Jack was just going out as he walked in. They nodded to each other and Charlie went into the room to take a shower and change. There was a stack of mail on his bunk that he grabbed on his way out, sticking the letters in his back pocket.

To say Charlie was distracted was an understatement. He went right to headquarters to pick up his assignment and when Dora asked him if he'd like to work an extra shift, something he would normally jump at, he shook his head. His assignment was to wrangle a pair of Verdemalos, which were being transported to China for research. It was believed that the Verdemalos were descended from a Chinese dragon that was almost extinct and if they could be bred with the Verdemalos, the species may be saved.

The dragons did not want to be wrangled and they certainly didn't want to be put in a box. Charlie, Pete, and Jack managed to wrangle the two dragons into the two boxes after six hours of wrangling and stunning spells. The three came away singed, bruised and bloodied. Charlie got knocked in the mouth by a dragon tail, both bloodying and bruising his lip.

"Charlie, I'll buy you a drink," Pete said. "We deserve it. Want to come to Mexico tonight and party?"

Charlie rubbed his swollen jaw gingerly. "Uh, no thanks," he said. "I'm staying with Mike this weekend. Jessica's visiting, and you know how that goes."

Pete and Jack shrugged. "You don't know what you're missing."

"Next time and I'll buy." He said. He went to the dispensary and got some ice for his jaw and lip.

Charlie met his friend Ricardo on his way out. Ricardo was just coming on duty for a evening shift as perimeter guard. "_Amigo_!" Ricardo greeted his friend. "You look like shit."

"Thanks, man, I feel like shit."

"Poor baby," he kidded.

"Fuck you,"

"Speaking of fucking, Lisa's been looking for you. She extended her vacation a whole other week. You must have impressed her."

Charlie winced. "Yeah, I guess. I'm kind of in to something right now, could you tell her I died or something?"

Ricardo looked at him incredulously. "Come on man, she was hot."

He nodded in agreement. "Yes, she was. But like I said, I'm into something different right now."

Ricardo shrugged. "Whatever," he said. "More for me. See you around, hombre."

"Take care, man." he said.

He turned in his report and waited for Mike to get off his shift so they could apparate together. Mike strolled up to him casually, but flinched when he saw his face. "That must have hurt," he said.

Charlie grinned. "A little bit."

"I have some good stuff at the house," he said. "It'll fix you right up."

When the men apparated on the back porch of Mike's house, Lindsey and Jessica came out to greet them. Lindsey looked more at ease and Jessica was smiling until she got a look at Charlie's face.

"You look like you've been in a fight," she said wincing at his face

"I was," he said. "I got the shit kicked out of me. I think my cheek's cracked."

"How'd that happened?" she asked touching the area.

"Verdemalo's tail whipped right across my face." He said.

"And you have a nasty burn. Poor baby" She said touching his arm gingerly. He flinched slightly.

"Hazards of the job," he said nonchalantly. He sat down in one of the deck chairs, noticing that his mail was still in his back pocket. Pulling it out, he looked through the stack and saw a letter from his mother.

He held the letter in his hands for a long time, staring at it. He still hadn't decided what he was going to say or how he was going to say it. He had a couple of weeks before he had to report to the Reds' training camp, and he wanted to take Ingrid to England so his family could meet her. He already knew Jessica was not keen on the idea of taking her so far away, but if he brought her along and had her stay in the muggle part of London, maybe she would agree.

Jessica watched the emotions crossing his face as he looked at the odd envelope. She bit her fingernail nervously. He looked up at her and smiled. "It's a letter from my mum. I was just thinking about how I was going to tell her about Ingrid."

She grinned. "You don't have to tell her," she said shyly.

"How about you coming to England with me," he said ignoring her comment. "You can stay in a nice hotel in a good part of London and you don't even have to see my parents or any magical folk, but you'll be close by."

She thought about it for a moment. "I'll have to get Ingrid a passport. That'll take a couple of weeks. I assume you'll be traveling with me. Do you have a passport?"

He nodded. "Yes, I do, as a matter of fact. I've had to travel on muggle transports before. I don't like it very much, but I'll travel with you, if it will make you happy. I'll take care of all the arrangements."

She took a deep breath. "All right, then. We'll go to England and your parents can meet Ingrid. See, I can be reasonable," she said smugly.

After dinner, Jessica brought Ingrid outside and put her in a small playpen. Trudy kept her and Mikey amused as the adults enjoyed the view. Charlie brought out a long piece of parchment and began writing a letter to his mother. He didn't want to tell her anything yet; he wanted the good news to be delivered face to face. He told his parents that he was planning a visit before the Quidditch season started and was going to stay two weeks. He wasn't sure of the exact date he'd be coming but probably no later than the end of next month. Normally his letters were chatty, telling her everything going on, but this letter was less than three paragraphs. He purposefully left it bland. He borrowed one of Mike's owls and sent the letter on. The owl would take it to an overseas carrier, where the letter would travel to its destination.

Charlie got bolder with Ingrid, actually holding her for longer periods of time. She could keep her head up on her own and was aware of her surroundings. Jessica brought out her camera and took so candid shots of him with the baby. Once the women went inside, Mike and Charlie stayed outside, drinking beer and staring at the skies. Neither of this said much; they were happy to be sitting outside amid the peace and quiet of the desert.


	15. Chapter 15

_Based on characters created by J. K. Rowling_

Chapter 15

The four weeks at the dragon preserve passed quickly and before he knew it, Charlie was getting ready for another Quidditch season. He was more excited about going home than reporting to camp. During those four weeks, Charlie spent a lot of time with Jessica and Ingrid. She was growing like a weed and so responsive. She recognized him when he visited them and always held her arms up so Charlie could pick her up. She smiled at him and it broke his heart every time. She loved to bounce up and down on his knee and she giggled with delight when he held her over his head and twirled around.

Jessica was packing for their trip to England when took Ingrid's favorite dragon doll away from her to pack, she put it in the carry on because that was the one toy Ingrid couldn't seem to live without. Ingrid threw her first temper tantrum. She reached out, screaming for the toy, but her mother simply shook her head and packed it away. She jutted out her bottom lip and pointed at the bag. All of a sudden, the bag started to tremble and the zipper unzipped. The dragon doll rose in the air and floated over to her. Ingrid simply caught it and laughed gleefully. Jessica gave a little scream, and Charlie rushed into the room to see what was causing the uproar.

He found Jessica sitting on the floor and Ingrid in her crib playing happily with her dragon doll.

"What's wrong?" he asked, worried that she was hurt.

"Uh, Charlie," Jessica said, clearing her throat. "Our little girl's a witch," she said it so calmly that at first Charlie didn't understand what she meant.

He walked over to Ingrid's crib and picked her up. "What happened?"

Jessica got to her feet, and walked up to the crib. "She wanted her dragon. I'd packed it away for the trip and she unzipped the bag and levitated the doll across the room."

Charlie looked at Ingrid with pride. "No shit? He hugged his daughter. "Nice going, kiddo." He said. "I told you," he said smugly.

Jessica stuck her tongue out at Charlie. "Smart ass," she said. Charlie pulled her into his arms and laughingly tried to kiss her. She turned her head away playfully, but suddenly they weren't playing. He held her arms down at her side and kissed her. She struggle and he released her arms, which immediately wrapped around his neck and she was kissing him back. He pushed her toward her bed and began pulling off his shirt and her blouse. He left her bra on and began unbuttoning her jeans.

"Charlie!" she panted. "The baby," she started to push him off her.

"Oh fuck," he said, sitting up. "Sorry."

She pushed back her hair. "It's okay. We have a plane to catch anyway; unless of course you don't want to go to England and see your parents," she finished hopefully, pulling her blouse together.

"You wish," he said. "Nope. Are you ready?" he asked, tucking in his shirt.

Jessica nodded. "Uh, do you think Ingrid will, um, you know? In public?'

Charlie shook his head. "Not as long as you give her everything she wants. She'll only do magic if she's frustrated or you're not moving fast enough for her. But I'll keep an eye on her. We should be okay."

"Are your parents going to meet us at the airport?" she asked zipping up the last bag.

Charlie chuckled. "Uh, no. My parents aren't very comfortable in the muggle world. I think my dad would love it, but mum? Not so much. I thought I'd go home and then bring them to the hotel. I figure you don't want to go to my parents' house."

"You figured right. I'm nervous just the thought of being on the same hemisphere with your parents. They're not going to like me," she said.

"Yes, they will. They'll be pissed at me, but they'll get over it. Just wave a grandchild in mum's face, and she's happy. Oh, and my dad gets a little enthusiastic around muggles. He loves them." He picked up the bags and carried them into the living room.

"Aren't you worried about being seen in public with me and Ingrid? Reporters and all." She said with a concerned look on her face.

"No, I'm not well known in England at all. And besides we'll stay away from the wizarding community." He said casually. "No worries."

They took a cab to the airport, and although all the security screening got on Charlie's nerves, the trip went without incident. Jessica and Charlie kept Ingrid distracted enough and she turned out to be a happy traveler. Of course every time she started to whimper, Jessica stuck something in her mouth. She nursed her on the plane, which caused more than a few raised eyebrows, but Charlie acted as her bodyguard and he was an imposing figure.

They spent the night in New York before taking off for England early the next morning. They didn't arrive in London until 9:30 that evening; exhausted and cranky, they checked into their hotel room a few minutes before midnight. They slept most of the next day, but Charlie got up at four that afternoon to get ready to head to the Burrow.

As he dressed, he began to get nervous. He didn't know how exactly he was going to break the news, but he'd figure that out when he saw his mum. The plan was to bring them to their hotel and introduce them to Jessica and Ingrid. The only solid plan they had was the restaurant they were going to. After that, Charlie would "wing" it.

Charlie kissed Jessica and Ingrid good bye and Jessica wished him luck. Charlie ducked into the bathroom and disapparated. He apparated outside the gate of his parents' house. He saw his mother through the window. She was fussing in the kitchen, probably cooking dinner for them. She looked up and he waved. She dropped the pan into the dishwater and ran outside to greet him.

"Charlie!" she said, happily. "You look wonderful!" she said hugging him tightly.

"So do you, Mum. I've missed you. Are you doing all right?" he asked weakly.

"We're fine, dear. Where's your bag? You usually bring home your laundry." She kidded him.

"Um, I'm actually staying in London. Is Dad home?" he asked, walking her into the house.

Molly looked at her son. "He'll be home in a few minutes. What's going on?"

Charlie shook his head innocently. "Nothing. Why? Can't I ask after my own father?" _Shit! _He was getting nervous.

Molly turned to him and put her hands on her ample hips. "Charlie?"

"What?" His hands were beginning to sweat. "I just wanted to take you and Dad out to a nice restaurant for dinner. Is that all right?"

"Why do you want to take us out to dinner?" she asked suspiciously.

"Damn, Mum, I'm trying to be nice here. Why the third degree? I thought it would be nice for once in your life not to have to cook. Sorry I brought it up."

They sat in the kitchen across from each other waiting for Arthur to get home. Molly served him some elf-made wine. Charlie asked mundane questions about the family, keeping any mention of grandchildren strictly out of the conversation. He kept most of his comments to Ginny and her Quidditch team, the Holyhead Harpies. Molly hinted that Ginny may not be playing too much longer, that she and Harry were talking marriage. Charlie swallowed hard and nodded.

"Charlie, are you all right?" she asked for what seemed like the hundredth time.

He took another sip of wine and played with the stem of the glass. "Mum, I am fine. Perfect, never better."

Molly raised her eyebrows. She was about to say something when Arthur appeared through the door.

"Charlie, my boy!" He said happily. "It's good to see you. Ready for another great season? You boys did all right last season." Arthur went to kiss Molly, but saw her expression. He kissed her on the cheek.

"What's wrong?" he asked, looking from Molly to Charlie.

Charlie rubbed his sweaty palms on his thighs. "Okay. I need to tell you something, but you have to come to London and have dinner with me."

Molly and Arthur glanced at each other. Charlie was sure they were thinking the worst.

"Why?" Arthur asked.

"Because I want to take you to out to dinner. Is that a crime now?" He said irritably. "And I want to tell you something."

"You can't say it here?" Arthur asked.

"No, goddammit, I can't. Will you come or not?" Charlie scratched his head irritably. "I'm sorry. Please?"

"Are you dying, Charlie?" Molly asked, her eyes filling with tears.

"What? No, of course not. No." he said. "Shit. Okay. I have a daughter." He blew out a loud breath.

"What?" Molly Weasley was stunned for the first time in her adult life. He wished he had a camera to record the look. He stifled a grin because he knew that if he laughed at this moment, his mum would hex him into the middle of next week, so he kept his expression neutral.

"Son?" Arthur said, almost as stunned as Molly. "Did you marry the girl?"

"Uh, no. She doesn't want to marry me. I've asked, believe me. But there's something else you should know."

Molly and Arthur looked at each other again. "Something else?" she repeated.

"Uh, yes. Ingrid's mother—"

"Your daughter's name is Ingrid?" Molly interrupted.

He nodded. "Ingrid Louisa. Anway,"

"How old is she?" she asked.

"Uh, around six months, she was born November 4th." He said. "The thing is,"

"Where her mother's family from?"

"Mum, I'm trying to tell you something." He said.

"Sorry, dear." She had reached across the table and took hold of Arthur hand. "You were saying?" She planted a smile on her face.

"Right," Charlie began. "Ingrid's mother's a muggle." He said quickly and then let out his breath.

Arthur smiled. "You don't say. Really? How delightful." Molly looked at him sharply. He demurred instantly.

"So, that's why I wanted to take you to dinner. I wanted you to meet Jessica and Ingrid. Jess isn't really comfortable in the wizarding community, so I thought…"

Molly's expression frosted over. She crossed her hands over her chest. "_Really_?"

_Shit._

"Molly," Arthur said. "Let's go meet our granddaughter."

Molly nodded and removed her apron and fixed her hair. Charlie couldn't read her expression but clearly she was slightly peeved. He was sure she would have taken the news better if Jessica had been a witch. Molly expected her boys to marry nice witches and have beautiful babies. She would never admit prejudice, but she would have preferred if Charlie would stick to his own kind.

"Jessica's an artist," he said.

Molly said sounding sardonic. "How wonderful."

_Double shit._

"Mum, please be nice to her," Charlie begged.

"Why wouldn't I be nice, dear?" she asked innocently. "A young lady whom your barely know has your child and refuses to marry you? She sounds lovely."

_Fuck me._

Arthur rolled his eyes and smiled weakly. "Molly," he warned.

Molly smiled a pained smile and brushed imaginary lint from her dress. "Well, let's go and meet this, ahem, young woman."

"Mum, please. You missed the whole point. I have a daughter. I am a father. I'm taking responsibility for what I did. Ingrid is the most incredible thing in my life. She is so unbelievably pure and beautiful. Can you _please _move beyond your not liking my baby's mother at least until you've met her?'

"Charlie Weasley, you cannot believe for one minute that I'm happy about this!"

"You were all excited about her until you found out her mother's a muggle." Charlie's voice had risen.

"That's ridiculous." Molly's face reddened.

"Fine. Don't meet your granddaughter. No problem. Fuck it."

"Charlie," Arthur Weasley said in a warning voice.

"No, Dad. If you don't want to see her, fine. I'm sorry I wanted to include you in her life. She is a witch, by the way." He started toward the door.

"Wait, son," Arthur said. "This is all new to us. Give us a minute to absorb everything. Of course we want to meet our granddaughter."

Jessica was pacing nervously waiting on some word from Charlie. Of course his parents weren't going to be crazy about the idea of having a grandchild, especially a grandchild that's only half magical. But it meant so much to Charlie to tell them about Ingrid. She hoped they would be accepting of her. She smiled at her daughter who was playing in the floor with her dragon doll. Who wouldn't love her? She got down on the floor with her and kissed her belly. Ingrid giggled.

There was a soft knock on the door and Charlie came in. He was flushed. "Hey," he said. "It's just me. Mum and Dad are downstairs in the restaurant. Are you ready?"

She sighed. "As I'll ever be. You want to change Ingrid's clothes? I brought a real pretty dress; it sets off her hair."

"Yeah, sure," he said nervously. "I just don't want to leave them down there by themselves for very long."

"Okay, it won't take but a second. How'd they take the news?" she asked, pulling the shirt over Ingrid's head. "I bet they're happy to meet me, huh?"

"Um, I think it went well," he said, hedging. "My mum's a little freaked. But I guess I can't blame her. You'll like her, though, and I know my dad'll love you. It's just going to take a little time for Mum. She's, well, I think she still sees me as a little boy. You know how mothers get. I'm pretty sure she thinks I'm a virgin." He laughed.

Jessica finished dressing Ingrid and tried to smooth down her hair. She settled for bunching her hair together on top and setting it with a barrette.

"Come on, sweetie," Charlie said picking up her daughter.

"God, I'm nervous," Jessica said. "Maybe I should just stay up here and you guys go on."

Charlie threw one arm around her and drew her close. He kissed her hair. "It'll be okay. I need you with me, Jess."

Jessica sighed and shook her head. "That's how I got into trouble in the first place," she teased.

His face was suddenly serious. "I'm glad," he whispered.

"Yeah, me, too." She sniffled. "I'll take her," she said reaching for Ingrid. But she wrapped her

little arms around Charlie's neck and wouldn't let go. "Okay, then, you take her."

"You look beautiful, by the way," Charlie said. "Your breasts are really nice."

"They got big, but I have to wear a bra now. Oh well, the sacrifices we make," she teased. "Charlie, kiss me now." Without another word, he cupped his hand around her head and kissed her soundly.

"Thanks," she said. "I needed that."

They walked into the restaurant together. He lead Jessica by the hand to the table he had reserved. Molly and Arthur looked nervous and out of place, although Arthur was examining the fancy muggle lamp on the table. He kept turning it off and on and Molly just looked uncomfortable.

"Mum, Dad," Charlie said. They turned. Seeing their son holding an infant in his arms with the baby's arms wrapped around his neck brought tears to both of them. She was beautiful, and she looked just like Ginny when she was a baby. "This is Jessica Johansen, and this is Ingrid."

Jessica stood back as Mr. and Mrs. Weasley looked up at their grandchild. Mrs. Weasley was wiping away her tears and Mrs. Weasley just stared. "Just like Ginny," he said.

Molly pretty much ignored Jessica, but Arthur and Charlie tried to include her in their conversation. Arthur asked her questions about muggle appliances and Jessica grinned. Charlie had asked her the same questions when they first met. She loved Arthur immediately. Molly was going to take a while to get used to.

"She pretty advanced, isn't she?" Molly asked finally, trying to include Jessica.

"Yes, she is. She tries hard to stand up and when she wants something, she's quite adamant."

"Yeah," Charlie said, excitedly. "She magicked her stuffed dragon out of Jessica's suitcase."

"All ready? Amazing," said Arthur. "You're a clever girl, aren't you?" Ingrid seemed to understand because she bounced up on down, laughing.

"She's going to get fussy soon," Jessica looked at her watch. "It's about time for her lunch and nap. "Maybe I should take her back to the room and feed her."

"Nonsense," Molly said. "You can feed her here."

Jessica reddened slightly. "I'm nursing her," she said.

"Oh," Molly said, taken aback. "I didn't think young women did that anymore."

Jessica shrugged. "I don't know about that. It's just better for Ingrid."

"And you're drinking?"

"No, of course not." She looked at Charlie, confused.

"I thought I smelled wine but I guess that was my imagination." Molly said. Then, without a beat, "Charlie tells me you're an artist."

Jessica nodded. "Yes, I also teach art at the community college in Las Cruces."

"Do you make a nice living teaching college?" She asked innocently. Charlie closed his eyes. Here it comes.

"It's not making me rich, if that's what you mean."

"I imagine it's hard to raise a child without support of the father," Molly said with a plastered smile on her face.

"What do you mean?" she asked, her eyebrow raised.

"Well, dear. I guess your free-spirit lifestyle is good for you, but is it good for your child?"

_Oh fuck. No, honey. Don't do the head, thing. Please._

"_Excuse me_?" Her head snapped.

_Oh fuck, oh fuck, oh fuck._ Charlie rubbed his forehead nervously.

"What do you know about my lifestyle? You've only just met me. Please don't judge me. And no, I'm not going to marry your son. I don't need to marry him. I made over $400,000 last year with my art, including $150,000 for three pieces I did of Charlie. And by the way, that's a shitload of gold. I am more than capable of raising _my_ daughter without any assistance from Charlie or any other man. Being a part of Ingrid life was his idea, not mine.

"Charlie, give Ingrid to me, I need to feed her now." She said cooly.

Arthur sat quietly and didn't say a word. Molly was too shocked to speak. Charlie handed Ingrid over to Jessica.

"It was a real pleasure meeting you," she said and stormed off with Ingrid.

Charlie took a long drink of his beer. "That went well," he said.

Molly stared at him with a murderous look in her eyes.


	16. Chapter 16

_Based on characters created by J. K. Rowling_

Chapter 16

It took 10 minutes to placate his mother. No one had ever stood up to her like that and Charlie doubted she would have if she understood exactly how powerful his mother was.

"I just don't understand her, Charlie, trying to raise a child alone."

"Mum, it's fairly common. She was right. She doesn't need my help. She took on a big responsibility. I just want to be a part of Ingrid's life, especially now that I know she's a witch. I'm going to make sure she gets the proper education. There are some wonderful wizarding schools in America." Charlie explained.

Molly sighed. "If you're sure, dear. She won't try to stop her from using magic, will she?"

"No, I can't imagine that. She understands who we are; she just doesn't want to live in our world. I think that's her main objection to getting married. I live in the wizarding world and she doesn't."

"What is your role then? How much are you going to get to be with Ingrid?" Molly asked.

"We're working that out. I won't get to be around her as much as I'd like, but she promised me that I can be in her life."

Molly looked at Arthur and sighed. "It's a shame we won't get to know her better."

Arthur nodded ruefully. "She is a pretty little thing, isn't she?"

Charlie nodded. "Looks just like a Weasley, doesn't she?"

Molly and Arthur chuckled. "Is she bringing her back?" Molly asked.

Charlie shrugged. "I have no idea."

"Of course, I'm bringing her back," Jessica said holding a very happy Ingrid in her arms. "I wanted to apologize for going off like that. I'm afraid I get kind of defensive about my life choices." She sat down next to Charlie. "We were both hungry. Have you ordered yet?"

Charlie shook his head. "She didn't want to go to sleep?"

She shook her head. "Too much excitement. I know she's sleepy, but she kept pointing at the door. She wanted to see you."

Taking the baby, he held her up to his face and said, "Of course she did, she wanted to see her daddy, didn't you, sweetheart?" Charlie Weasley was speaking baby talk?

Molly and Arthur looked at each other amused.

"What?" He asked when he saw their expressions. They just shook their heads, grinning.

The rest of the dinner was pleasant enough. It was evident Molly still had some doubts about Jessica, and Jessica was aware that they would never be great friends, but there was not another outburst on either woman's part that evening. Molly liked the idea of Charlie being so protective of his daughter.

_Charlie's daughter_; now that was a concept that was difficult to wrap her head around. Molly had given up any hope that Charlie would settle down. She was still dubious, but one never knew. He seemed to really like Jessica; he said he was willing to marry her and he was clearly crazy about Ingrid. Ingrid seemed attached to him as well. What was going to happen when Charlie left? Molly was sure Ingrid was too young to understand now, but when she got older, would she know her dad?

After dinner, dessert, and drinks, Jessica went back to their room while Charlie kept Ingrid so he could say good bye to his parents. Arthur held the baby, which delighted her to no end when he kissed her sloppily. Molly gave her a little pat and kissed her cheek. Ingrid smiled and reached for her, kicking her feet happily. Molly took her in her arms and held her. She wiped a tear when she gave Ingrid back to Charlie.

"Good night, angel," she said thickly. "Will you drop by tomorrow, Charlie?"

Charlie nodded. "Of course I will, Mum."

"And will you bring Ingrid?" Molly asked.

"We'll see." He said noncommittally. He kissed his mother and embraced his father. Ingrid had fallen asleep in her father's arms and Molly and Arthur kissed her head. They went outside into the alley and disapparated. Charlie watched them disappear, and then took the elevator to Jessica's room.

Jessica was relaxing in the huge bathtub. She looked like she was asleep. Charlie put Ingrid in her portable crib that the hotel provided and went back into the bathroom to talk to Jessica.

"Hey, baby," he said kissing her. Jessica smiled without opening her eyes. "May I join you?" he asked.

"The water's getting cold," she said.

"I can fix that," he pointed his wand at the water, and performed a hex that heated up the water.

"Ooh, nice." She said, sitting up in the tub, making room for him. Charlie undressed quickly and slipped in behind her. He wrapped his arms around her and planted the back of her neck with kisses, nuzzling her gently. A sigh of contentment escaped from her. Charlie took a sponge and began washing her back and reached around her and lathered her breasts, kneading them.

"You might not want to do that, Charlie," she said. "You're making my milk come in."

"I'm sorry," he said, quickly moving his hands.

Jessica chuckled. "My fault." She turn around, facing him. She slid up his body and wrapped her arms around him. She parted her lips and slipped her tongue slowly tracing the corners of his mouth. She let her tongue slip inside his mouth slightly. Charlie moaned and took hold of the back of her head, grabbing a fistful of her hair. He kissed her, crushing his lips into hers. Jessica slipped her legs around Charlie's hips. He lifted her up and entered her and she sucked in her breath sharply.

"Did I hurt you?" he asked.

She smiled and shook her head. "No, it feels wonderful." She arched her back and closed her eyes. "Mmm," she said.

He made love to her tenderly and leisurely.

It was much later; they were lying together in bed. Charlie was tracing the curves in her hips and around her beautiful rounded bottom. "It's hard to believe you had a baby," he said lazily.

"You say that now, but I was a cow. I worked very hard to get back into my pre-baby size."

"It shows, you're, um, very tight." He said. Very casually, he pulled her on top of him and he massaged her shoulders, back, and bottom. "Have you been with anyone since Ingrid was born?" Jessica stiffened and pushed off him.

"Have you?" she asked, with an edge in her voice. She wrapped herself in a sheet and got out of bed. She checked on Ingrid, who was sound asleep and she went into the bathroom, slamming the door behind her.

"Shit," Charlie said, rubbing his forehead forcefully. "Fuck." He got up and walked to the bathroom door. "I didn't mean that the way it sounded, Jess."

Jessica opened the bathroom door. She was brushing her teeth and had a mouth full of toothpaste. She spit in the sink and took a drink of water. "How did you mean it? Because it sounded an awful lot like, 'who have you fucked?'"

Charlie leaned against the facing on the bathroom door. "I'm sorry. I'm usually not like this. I've never been this territorial in my life."

"Well, for your information, mister, I haven't fucked anyone else since we started seeing each other again. So there. I haven't corrupted our daughter by bringing strange men into my bed."

"You've never…" Charlie said, he was beginning to feel very small.

"Nope," she cut him off. "Bet you can't say that, can you?"

Charlie flushed. "This isn't about me."

"That is about the lamest thing I have heard you say, Charlie." She rinsed out her mouth and put her toothbrush in a glass. She put on her nursing bra and slipped a sexy gown over her head. She brushed him aside and crawled into bed.

"Look," she said, fluffing up her pillow. "I know you see other women and I'm fine with that. That's one of the reasons I don't want to marry you because I don't think you could be faithful, and with that kind of commitment, I would expect you not to screw around on me."

"I'd be faithful, Jess," he said.

She chuckled. "No, you wouldn't. You were flirting with the server tonight."

"No, I wasn't." He said, trying to remember what he did.

"Trust me. It wasn't very overt but it's something you have done to me." She said.

Jessica reached over and turned off the light on the night stand next to her side of the bed. "Good night, Charlie." She said as she rolled over away from him, leaving him staring at her back.

Charlie got undressed and turned out the main light, leaving a small night light for Ingrid. He slipped into bed and rolled over away from her. Charlie suspected she was still awake, but after a few moments, her breathing became even. He rolled onto his back and threw his hand over his eyes. The baby whimpered once and he jumped up to check on her, but she was breathing steadily; her mouth making sucking motions. He patted her back and went back to bed.


	17. Chapter 17

_Based on characters created by J. K. Rowling_

Chapter 17

Next morning, there was a frosty silence in the air. Jessica wasn't ready to talk to Charlie yet and Charlie didn't think anything he said would help the situation. When Jessica did speak to him, their conversation was polite and formal. He ordered room service and they ate breakfast in silence. She read the newspaper while he took a shower and played with Ingrid.

Around 10 o'clock, Charlie cleared his throat. Jessica looked up from the book she was reading. "I'm going to visit my brothers George and Ron in Diagon Alley, it's a wizarding place."

"So?" she said, going back to her book.

"I want to take Ingrid and introduce her. You can come if you'd like."

Jessica sighed and closed her book. "No, that's okay, just remember I'm her only source of nourishment, so don't stay gone too long." Jessica actually smiled at him.

"You're sure?" he asked.

"Yes, Charlie." She got up and walked to Ingrid's crib. She was taking a nap. Jessica patted her back and woke her up gently. "I'll feed her before you leave,"

"Thank you," he said quietly. He watched her silently as Ingrid woke up and nursed hungrily. "I'm a Prat, you know."

Jessica looked up at him and smiled. "Yes, you are."

"Forgive me?"

Jessica put Ingrid on her shoulder and patted her back gently until she burped. "I'll think about it while you're gone."

Jessica dressed the baby in one of a dozen cute outfits she brought for her. She purposefully chose a frilly girly dress that suited her. She grinned at the contrast between her little frilly girl and the very muscular, masculine Charlie that held her.

She showed him how to use the portable stroller, which totally confounded him. She very patiently demonstrated how it folded out. He was worried that it would fold up with Ingrid in it, but she showed him how it locked it place.

Charlie purposefully picked the hotel where they stayed because it was less than a block away from The Leaky Cauldron, which was the entry-way to Diagon Alley. If anyone noticed a man pushing a baby stroller into a pub in the middle of the day, they didn't say anything. Charlie walked in casually, the pub was dark and only a few permanent patrons were hanging around. He wore the muggle baseball cap and sunglasses he always had on when he went out in the wizarding community in America when he didn't want to be recognized. He doubted that anyone who notice him here, but he became wary when people did a double take. Of course, a man in a baseball cap and sunglasses pushing a baby stroller might draw attention in Diagon Alley anyway.

George and Ron were not expecting him; he was sure that his parents had spoken to them, but he thought he' drop in on them and then hit Grigott's afterward to see Bill. He walked the short distance to the 3W's and pushed the stroller inside. All the females in the shop stopped to look at the man pushing the baby stroller. They oohed and aahed over the baby, and Charlie was thinking this was a pretty good way to meet women. Charlie asked the clerk who was fawning over Ingrid if George and Ron were in.

"Yes sir, and whom shall I say is calling?" she asked formally.

Charlie looked up and saw his brothers coming down the stairs from the second floor.

"Oi!" he yelled loudly and they waved when they spotted him and ran down the stairs.

"Merlin's beard," Ron said. "I thought mum was lying. Where'd you steal the kid? Can't be yours, it's too cute."

George picked Ingrid out of the stroller and held her up. "Hello, gorgeous," he said. "I'm your Uncle George, the handsome one." Ingrid blessed him with a bubbly laugh.

"Well, I lost that bet," Ron said, handing over a galleon to George. "We all thought you were gay as toast."

"Funny," Charlie said.

"So, is it true about, you know?" George nudged.

"What?" he shrugged. "What are you talking about?"

"Her _mum_. Is she a, a, _you know?_" Ron interjected.

Charlie shook his head. "No idea what you're talking about."

"_Charlie_, is she a muggle, for Merlin's sake?" Ron said louder than he expected it to come out.

People in the shop turned around to look. Charlie smiled and waved to everyone.

"Shit," said Charlie. "Thanks, Ron. And to answer your stupid ass question, _yes_."

George still had Ingrid and was running around the store with her, which delighted her to no end. He gave her lots of joke items for her to play with. She laughed at his silliness and when he tried to put her down she let out a mad cry.

Charlie was leaning against the counter watching George being silly, when a young woman walked up to him.

"Hi," she said timidly.

Charlie stood up straight. "Hey," he said coolly.

"Are you Charlie Weasley?" she asked in a very distinct American accent, "The seeker for the Reds?"

Charlie nodded warily. She smiled. "I thought so! May I please have your autograph?"

"Um, sure." She handed him an autograph book. "What's your name?"

"Ramona Hardcombe. I'm here on vacation. I'm such a big fan; my whole family is. Wow! No one's going to believe I met you. Will you take a picture with me?"

"Why not?" He motioned for George to take Ingrid somewhere and he and Ron hurried her into the stock room. She had a cell phone with a camera, which many American witches carried Handing it over to one of the assistants, she had to explain how to work the camera. The assistant took several shots and handed the camera back to her. "Thanks," she said. "You're so sweet." Ramona kissed him on the cheek and quickly ran out of the store.

The assistant looked at Charlie closely. "Are you somebody?" she asked.

Charlie shook his head. "Nah, I get that all the time. I look like this really handsome Quidditch player from America. Don't have the heart not to tell them I'm not him." He wagged his eyebrows. "And I get lucky sometimes."

"He's not so handsome," came a voice from behind him. He turned and there stood his sister, Ginny. His eyes lit up and he grabbed her and swung her around.

"So, where the kid?" she asked. "You did bring her didn't you?"

"She's in the back room with George and Ron. Mum says she looks just like you."

"Then she _is_ a beauty," Ginny joked.

The Weasleys kept Ingrid entertained the rest of the morning, but around noon she started to get fussy.

"Oh dear," said George, handing her off to Charlie. "I think she needs a clean nappy."

"I don't know how to do that," Charlie said. He gave the baby to Ginny.

"Why did you give her to me? I've never changed a nappy in my life." She passed her over to Ron, who shook his head vehemently.

"Well," said George, "You used to take your own nappy off."

"I did not!" Ginny exclaimed. Charlie and Ron both nodded.

"You don't remember that, Ron! Oh for heaven's sakes, give her to me." She sniffed her bottom. "It doesn't smell that bad. Maybe she's just wet. You can handle that, can't you, Charlie?"

He shook his head. In the meantime, Ingrid was getting crankier.

"Maybe she's just hungry," Ron suggested. "We can go and get her something to eat."

"She doesn't eat anything yet, just, uh, you know, breast milk." He blushed slightly.

"Really?" George and Ron said together.

"Ginny, go get Bill, he has a kid." Ron said.

"Get him yourself," she said.

Charlie held up his hand. "Look, we're wizards, right? We're not going to let something simple as a nappy get the better of us, right?'

"Right!" They chorused.

"Right," Charlie said louder. "Okay." He looked at a squalling Ingrid and nodded. "Okay," he repeated. He put Ingrid down on a table set up in the stock room, pulled out his wand and said, "_Accio diaper bag,"_ and the bag flew in and landed on the table next to Ingrid. Ingrid stopped crying long enough to clap and reach for the bag, which Charlie moved out of her way. He took a diaper and the wipey things. His brothers and Ginny looked on, interested. He removed the diaper.

"Oh my God," he gagged. "You said it didn't stink."

"It doesn't stink, I mean it doesn't smell like real poo." Ginny said.

George made a face, "I didn't think a kid could poop that much. Damn."

"That's it," said Ron. "I'm never having kids." He retched several times before leaving the room.

Ingrid was apparently feeling much better with her diaper off and she began to grin. "Don't put your hands in it, sweetie," Charlie said desperately. "Oh gross," the grabbed as many wipey things as he could get hold of and wiped her hand and the rest of her."

"Charlie, you're going to have to make sure she's clean inside," Ginny said.

"That's just, I, I, you do it," he said quickly handing her a clean cloth. Ginny finished wiping her down, while Charlie pulled the old diaper away. He hit the diaper with a spell that sent it into the back alley into a rubbish bin. Then he bravely took the fresh diaper and put it on her. He did a pretty good job, too, for a first time. He had watched Jessica enough times to know what to do. "Not bad," he congratulated himself, "not bad at all."

Charlie had to change her outfit because she got poo all over it, but Jessica motto must be, "Be prepared," because everything feasible was organized neatly and put in the bag. "It's not in her hair or anything?" he asked. Ginny checked her out and shook her head.

Ingrid was happy and so was Charlie. He couldn't wait to get back to Jessica and tell her what he'd done. He didn't want to press his luck so he said good bye to Ginny and his brothers and they headed straight for the hotel.

Jessica was taking a nap when he walked in. She stirred and smiled at them. She started to get up, but he brought Ingrid to her.

"I think she must be hungry." He said in a low, almost whisper.

"You changed her outfit," she noted.

"Changed her diaper, too," he said proudly. "See,"

That made her smile. Charlie leaned in to kiss her, but hesitated. "Did you forgive me for being a Prat?"

"Maybe," she said. "But we do need to talk."

He nodded. "I know," he said.


	18. Chapter 18

_Based on characters created by J. K. Rowling_

Chapter 18

In between visits to family and friends, Charlie and Jessica spent the rest of the trip to England talking. They had some serious disagreements, but mostly they agreed that Charlie would be in Ingrid's life as much as was humanly (or wizardly) possible. She was not so hot on allowing unsupervised visits, but agreed to come to Austin for an unspecified number of visits and he would visit them in New Mexico. She also agreed that when it was time, she would let Charlie see to her magical education; she wasn't happy with the idea of sending Ingrid away to school, but didn't totally reject the idea, either. Charlie promised he would look into the wizarding schools in America and choose the best one for her. He also agreed to fund her advanced muggle education completely.

And most importantly, they agreed to be friends, with benefits. They also settled that if either of them met someone that would not interfere with the rearing of their daughter. That clause, Charlie was sure, was more for Jessica than himself. What he didn't tell her was if she met someone and was involved in a long term relationship, he would take Ingrid to live with him.

On their last night in England, Molly and Arthur invited them to dinner at a nice restaurant in Diagon Alley. The rest of the family was coming as well, and Jessica agreed to attend, although she fretted about it all day.

The meal was rowdy and the language coarse, but everyone, including Jessica, had a good time. Somehow the conversation turned to Jessica's art work and she casually mentioned the three pieces she'd done of Charlie. George seemed extremely interested in the work and pressed Jessica for more details. She explained the work and as the description became more graphic, Charlie turned redder. Soon the whole table was silent, mesmerized by her visualization of the pieces. Charlie cringed. Molly cleared her throat. George, Ron, and Bill were laughing silently, trying very hard not burst out loud.

"Oh," Jessica said. "Sorry, I get carried away sometimes."

"You paint nudes?" Molly asked frostily.

"Not just nudes," she said defensively. "Plus I do mixed media, sculpture, oils, and photography."

"Like the stuff you did of Charlie." George said. "But they were nudes, weren't they?"

"Yes," drawing out the word making it two syllables. "As I said."

"Oh, I'd like to see those," George attempt at a joke had failed miserably.

Charlie gave him a look that shut him up, but Jessica continued. "Unfortunately, they aren't available; they were sold at my last show to a private collector. Speaking of art," she said. "While I was here, I contacted a gallery and they showed interested in having a show. So, I might be coming back in a few months."

"You'll bring Ingrid, of course," Arthur said, happily.

"Absolutely." She smiled.

"Charlie, will you be coming?" Ginny asked.

"First I've heard of it, but not if it's Quidditch season." Charlie said flatly.

Arthur went on a tear about Charlie's team and what did he think of the Hawaiian team. He'd also heard that the New Jersey team went to another league which made way for the New York team. Charlie was impressed that Arthur kept up with the USA Quidditch League. He didn't get to see or listen to many of the games, but he keep up with all the news.

"When are you reporting to training camp?" Ginny asked.

"Day after tomorrow. I'm cutting things close here." Charlie said.

The good-byes were loud and wet and full of hugs. Jessica stood back while the family said good bye to Charlie and Ingrid. They were a close and loving family, full of love and humor. Jessica liked Ginny and his brothers and felt a special kinship with Fleur, Bill's wife. Fleur told her that she had a difficult time winning her mother-in-law over; Molly was extremely protective of her children.

The trip back to America was uneventful but rushed. Once they arrived in Las Cruces, Charlie had to turn around and leave for Austin. He made it to the training camp in the middle of the night. His new roommate, a new seeker brought up from the reserves was a young man named Ben Russell. He had played in the reserves for only a year and was a former school mate of Lee West, who attended the Wizarding School of New Orleans. Ben was in bed when Charlie got in, but he popped up and said, "Joanna Kingsley said if you don't get your, her words, sexy ass over to her room as soon as you get in, there will be hell to pay." Ben closed his eyes and went quickly back to sleep.

Charlie chuckled and set his bags down. He was anxious to talk to her; he wanted to tell her about Ingrid. He'd only mentioned that he had something he wanted to tell her and Jordan, but didn't say what it was. He wanted to tell them in person.

He was pulling off his shirt, when there was a frantic knock on the door. Tossing his shirt aside, he opened the door and there stood a very pissed off looking Joanna and a sleepy Jordan.

She pushed her way in. "I told his dickhead to send you over the minute you got in." She started over to Ben, but Charlie held her back.

"He told me," he said. "Don't I get a kiss?" He said trying to wrap his arms around her.

Joanna stepped back and pushed a magazine in his chest. He took it away from her and looked at it. On the front cover was a very clear picture of Charlie taken in Diagon Allen, pushing a stroller. The headline screamed, "_CHARLIE'S LOVE CHILD_?" The picture clearly showed a red-headed child—Ingrid—sitting in the stroller while Charlie crossed the street. It was taken when he was on the way to George and Ron's shop.

"Is that you under the ridiculous hat and sun glasses?" she asked.

"Fuck," said Charlie, "how did they get this?"

"Are you telling me this is you?" She said, pointing at his image.

"Better sit down, I have some news."

"It's fucking true?!" she screamed. Ben stirred sat up and repeated the line he'd said to Charlie earlier. "Shut the fuck up!" she yelled at Ben, who lay back down without another word.

"Why didn't you tell us? I'm hurt. Who and when?"

"Are you going to calm down?" he asked, looked from her to Jordan. She nodded and sat down on Charlie's bed. Charlie reached into his bag and pulled out an overstuffed envelope and threw it at her.

"This is Ingrid Louisa," he said when she pulled out the dozens of still photos. "I was planning to tell you about her tomorrow; I swear I had no idea the press knew anything about her. She _is_ my daughter," he acknowledged. "Isn't she beautiful?"

Joanna looked up from the pictures. "She is. Who's her mother?" she asked, handing a stack of photos to Jordan.

"Jessica," he said quietly.

"As in _non-magical_ Jessica?" she asked.

Charlie nodded. "I just found out about her about a month ago and I took them to England to introduce them to my family."

"How'd that work out for you?" she asked, finally grinning.

"They love her. Joanna, she's incredible. So little, and she's a witch, too. She can already levitate and she's only six months. Jessica saw her first, but I took her little dragon doll I gave her away and put it in a box, and damn if she didn't open the box and levitate the doll to her. She's quite gifted."

"Of course she is." Joanna said. "And she is a beauty. Can't wait to meet her."

"Yes, well. We're working all that out, visits and shit. Jess and I aren't really together-together anymore."

"Oh Charlie, I'm so sorry. I know you care a lot for Jessica."

"She's going to be very unhappy with me once she finds out about this. She didn't want to tell anyone."

"Oops," Joanna winced.

"Oops is right. Do you think they'll hunt her down? She lives on a ranch way outside of Las Cruces, not too far from the dragon preserve, actually."

"The important thing," Jordan said, "is what you're going to do about _this_," he pointed at the magazine.

Charlie nodded in agreement.

"Well, I knew this was going to happen one day, Charlie." Joanna said, shaking her head.

"No," he said shaking his head. "I'm always very careful, I just had a lapse. She told me she took care of that sort of thing, and I got a little careless."

"A little? Ya think?" Joanna said.

"It's not going to happen again."

"You know what's going to happen, don't you? Every nut job witch is going to come out of the broom closet claiming to have your baby." Jordan added.

He sighed. "Maybe not. Maybe no one will believe it's me. God, I'm glad Jessica wasn't in the picture."

"Do you think the meaner ones will make it worse?"

He shrugged. "We'll see. Should I deny it?"

"Laugh it off. They'll move on to something else." Jordan suggested.

"You guys start a scandal so the pressure's off me. Have another kid."

Joanna and Jordan looked at each other lovingly. "That's a good idea, baby. Let's get started." Jordan said. He pulled her into his arms and began kissing her. His hands moved down her back, massaging her back and cupping her bottom.

"Not now," Charlie joked. "Go, procreate. I'm tired."

"Okay. We'll see you at breakfast tomorrow."

The next morning, Charlie got up at his usual time of 5:30 and went to the practice pitch for his early morning drill. He had the pitch to himself for an hour before Coach Popov showed up. Coach nodded to Charlie as they passed each other and as usual, neither spoke a word.

Jordan joined them a half hour later. They flew together for over an hour before landing. Throwing their brooms over their shoulder, they headed for the dining room, where they met up with Joanna who was reading another celebrity paper. Charlie came up behind her and took the magazine out of her hands.

"Hey," she said.

Charlie looked at the cover and there he was, pushing the stroller. The other pages devoted to the story had a picture of Charlie posing with the girl, what was her name? She must have been the one who took the pictures and was making a nice bit of gold. He threw down the paper in disgust.

Charlie got up to get another cup of coffee and saw Linda Martinez, a reporter he knew coming toward him. He handed her the cup of coffee and smiled at her.

"Linda, you look good. What're you doing here?" he asked.

"I'm here, covering the first day of training camp, of course."

"You're a Quidditch reporter now?" he asked.

She shook her head. "Amusing," she said. "I still work for _Witches!!_ Magazine. You knew that."

"Well, I was just wondering how a celebrity reporter was allowed in to Quidditch training camp. Not much gossip going around here." He said looking around.

"From what I understand, there's more juicy gossip around here than Quidditch news. You for, example."

Charlie looked surprised. "Me? Nothing going with me. I did hear Jordan and Joanna are trying to have another child." He said conspiratorially.

"Speaking of children, Charlie, what's your reaction to those pictures of you pushing a baby stroller?"

Charlie shrugged. "I don't know what you're talking about," he looked at her innocently. "Excuse me," he said walking back to his table.

"What's she doing here?" Joanna asked.

"Claims to be a reporter," he shrugged. "Who knew?"

"You're not going to fuck her again are you?" Joanna asked. Charlie and Linda had a bit of a history together, which Joanna disapproved.

"No, I'm not," he said defensively. "Damn, Joanna. Cut me some slack here."

"Uh, no. I know you too well, Charlie Weasley."

"I've changed. I have responsibilities now. I'm more mature." He counted off.

"Bull shit. Please." She rolled her eyes.

Linda made her way to Charlie's table. She sat down across from Joanna and Jordan. "Charlie tells me you and Jordan are planning another child. True?"

Joanna grabbed Jordan's hand. "Yes, we're going to have another baby."

"You're pregnant?" Her eyes lit up.

"Well, we were shagging like bunnies last night, so we're hoping." Joanna said.

Linda's face fell and she rolled her eyes. "Nice. Well, let me know. So, Joanna, what do you know about a certain picture of your boyfriend pushing a stroller. The baby had red hair."

"Charlie has a lot of nieces and nephews and he just came back from a visit to England, hmmm, maybe there's a connection." Joanna said.

"You didn't answer my question," she pointed out.

Joanna smiled, showing a lot of teeth. "Excuse us, we have a team meeting to go to."

"I'm not giving up on this, Charlie," she said calling after him as he and his friends walked away from her.

He waved absently as he disappeared out of the room.


	19. Chapter 19

_Based on characters created by J. K. Rowling_

Chapter 19

The first meeting of the season had pep talks from the owners, explanation of the changes within the USA Quidditch League, the pre-season schedule, and the workout schedule. New players were introduced, including Ben, and the announcement that had everyone surprised was the replacement of Jack Bledsoe for chaser Iris Mincher. Everyone looked at Alicia when the announcement was made, but she just folded her arms across her chest and had a smirk on her face.

After the meeting, the team had its first practice, and then they were told they had a curfew and they had to attend the mandatory dinner with the owners, sponsors, and the press. Charlie and Joanna looked at each other warily.

The dinner was pretty formal, and each team member was warned to be on their best behavior. The friends sat together and they managed to include Jack and Ben. Ben found it amazing that Charlie was so down to earth. He encouraged him and didn't act a prima donna. Charlie would have been happy watching the game if he couldn't be in it, but he did prefer playing, of course.

The schmoozy part of dinner with the press worried them more than anything else. He was sure that Linda or one of the other celebrity magazines would fight for their table, and he was right. Linda was accompanied by three other witches who wrote for the extremely popular celebrity magazines. This year, they seemed to be more interested in Jordan than any of the rest of them, which annoyed Joanna, but made Charlie happy. The younger reporters paid more attention to Lee and Jason and now Jack. Jack was only 17 years old, a baby compared to the others. He had played in Birmingham for the Hawks, a USAQML team. He'd only played one year, but he was phenomenal. He had incredible power and was able to hurl the quaffle over 100 miles an hour. He had a healthy ego, and the team was sure that Joanna would put him in his place. She had the uncanny ability to humble the most egocentric souls.

"Hello, Charlie," Linda said, sitting down next to him. She was wearing her signature yellow outfit. She looked good. She kissed him on the cheek.

"Hello, Linda. You look hot." No one else would have been able to get away with being so brazen with her, but Linda liked Charlie, despite herself.

"Are you going to clear up the rumors for me?" she asked again.

"Honey, I have no idea what you're talking about. I told you the story's Joanna and Jordan, not me." Charlie threw his hand around her shoulder casually.

"Are you going to give me an interview?" she asked.

"Are you going to blow me?" he asked. That was an on-going joke between them; the first time Charlie met her, he was being ornery, and promised her an interview if she'd go down on him. He ended up giving her an interview—sort of, and she cheekily asked him if he still wanted the blow job. They became friends after that.

"Of course I will; to get a story." She said.

"Blow job first?" he teased.

"Not on your life, pal," she teased back.

"Your loss," he started to get up, but sat right back down. "You can do your fucking interview, but don't ask me something stupid, please."

"Tell me the truth, Charlie; was that you pushing the stroller with a cute red-headed baby? The woman who took the pictures said you brought the baby into a store…"

"_Weasleys Wizarding Wheezes_, put the store's name in the story," he interrupted. "It's my brothers' business. It's a joke shop, very popular here and in England. George and Ron do the promotional items for the USA Quidditch League."

"Okay, I got it. Anyway she said you were showing off the baby to your brothers."

"Really?" he said. "What if said, 'yes', what would your reaction be?"

Linda dropped her pen and looked absolutely stunned. "I thought it was all bullshit," she whispered. "Oh my God," she put her hand over her mouth.

"Would you leave her alone? And respect our privacy?" Charlie was serious.

"Who's the mother?" she asked.

Charlie shook his head. "I'm not going to tell you because it is no one's business. She's very private and I don't want her bothered. I also don't my daughter bothered."

"What's her name? How old is she? Is her mother that muggle woman you were going out with?"

Charlie paused for a split second, "Her name is Ingrid, she's about seven months old and I'm not talking about her mother. Understand?"

"May I please have some pictures?" she begged.

Charlie dug an envelope out of the back of his pocket. There were some pictures of him with Ingrid that his family took while he was in England. They were wizard pictures; he wasn't about to give her any of the muggle pictures Jessica took. He handed her 10 pictures, his favorite one was him kissing her and she was giggling. The other pictures were shots of her with the family; including a sleeping shot with Molly holding her. He made sure Jessica was not in any of the pictures. He identified everyone in the photographs.

"Don't try to take any pictures of her without my permission and don't try to find her. Her mother and she live in a secret place and I'm the secret keeper and I am not giving that out to anyone. Understand? Her mother and I are not together. We're not married and we won't get married. We share a daughter and that's all. She has custody of her, but I have visiting rights. She'll be staying with me sometimes, but I don't have custody. Her mother decides when I can see her. I am going to be a part of her life and make sure she gets a quality wizarding education."

Linda nodded. "She's really cute, Charlie," Linda said.

"I know; she looks like her daddy." Charlie put his hand on hers. "She's very special and I want her to have as normal a life as possible."

"I understand."

"And I'm giving you the exclusive story, you and your magazine work out the legal shit, okay?"

She nodded.

"In a couple of years, I'll retire from Quidditch and no one will want to take my picture or want to know anything about me, which I still don't understand why I'm so fascinating." He shook his head.

Linda didn't answer him. "So, you'll give me periodic updates?"

"Sure, if you'd like. Just you, though." Charlie sat back and slapped his thighs. "Well, interview's over.

Linda smiled. "Thank you, Charlie," she said thickly. "Thank you for trusting me."

He nodded. "I don't trust anyone else." The told her. He leaned over and kissed her gently.

Charlie was happy with his decision to tell Linda. He knew that she would make sure the story would get out right and she wouldn't hound him or try to find Jessica. Linda was a woman of her word.

Charlie looked forward to the Quidditch season. He went home to Austin whenever he could and make monthly trips to Las Cruces to see Ingrid. He tried not to spoil her, but she wanted to make sure she had everything thing she needed.

Linda kept her word and Charlie rewarded her with periodic updates and pictures. The other celebrity press was anxious to get pictures and to get the story, but they were unable to find Ingrid or her mysterious mother. As a favor to Charlie, Linda reported that Ingrid mother was a witch who lived in England. She suspected she was right about his muggle girlfriend, but she never betrayed his trust.

Epilogue

Ingrid was nine years old when she got her acceptance letter to the S_alem School for Young Witches and Wizards_. She had been living with Charlie since she was three after Jessica died of a rare form of cancer. Charlie refused to change her last name to Weasley in honor of her mother.

She was so excited about being accepted to SSYWW that she couldn't talk about anything else. She would be boarding at the school and every time she mentioned leaving, Minnie couldn't stop crying. She loved her Ingrid and she would miss her too much! Every time Minnie cried, it set off that damn Chihuahua, who was started to get old and crankier.

Minnie told Charlie that she should go to SSYWW to take care of Ingrid. As much as she carried on, Charlie was tempted to let her go, but the school didn't have room for a house else.

"We'll visit the first chance, Minnie and you can go anytime to see her." He told her.

It hurt him more than he could describe in words when he took her to the school that fine sunny day. She cried, throwing her arms around his neck. He promised she'd come home for Christmas, and he promised to write and visit whenever he could.

"I'm so glad Kayleigh and Brandon's here," she said, "At least I know someone." Kayleigh was two years older than Ingrid, and Brandon, Kayleigh's brother was about the same age.

"And you'll make new friends, too."

The director walked out into the hall to greet Charlie and Ingrid. "It's getting late, Mr. Weasley, the children need to go to the assembly area."

He nodded. He kneeled down and Ingrid wrapped her arms around her.

"I love you, Daddy," she said, crying, but trying to be brave.

"I love you, too, sweetheart." He didn't start to cry until he was outside the building.


End file.
